Pubdate: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 Source: Oak Bay News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Oak Bay News Contact: http://www.oakbaynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1346 Author: Brennan Clarke Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts) COURTS CAN'T ADDRESS DRUG CRIMES, SAYS FORMER JUDGE The solution to rampant property crime, small-time armed robberies and street-level drug dealing lies in a community-based system of justice and not in stiffer jail sentences for repeat offenders, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal told local business leaders last week. Speaking at a Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce lunch Wednesday, Oppal said that drug-related crime is a social problem that has to be addressed by the community as a whole, not only the justice system. "We can't let the judges be out there all alone solving these problems," he said. "We have to get involved as a community. This is not a job the courts can do alone. "We need to start treating the root causes of crime so we don't have the revolving door syndrome we're now suffering from." Oppal, a long-time judge who moved from the provincial court bench to provincial politics last year, announced that his ministry to developing a community court system is modelled on similar programs in more than two dozen locales in the U.S. and Canada. By combining the penalties under the justice system with mandatory addiction counselling, mental health treatment or other rehabilitation tools deemed appropriate, cities such as Reno, Nevada and Portland Oregon have achieved dramatic reductions in car theft and other forms of property crime. "We could send them to jail, but they're just going to come out worse," Oppal told about four dozen attendees. "If the person is suitable for treatment, we need to put that person through the system immediately." In other so-called community court systems, offenders who refuse to undergo community-supervised rehabilitation would face the full force of the justice system, he added. "It's not a soft approach," Oppal said outside the meeting. "If people are not amenable to that type of situation, they would feel the full force of the law." Statistics show that about 90 per cent of property crimes are drug-related, and the bulk of those are the work of repeat offenders. Stiffer sentences for violent crime aren't effective because criminals operate on the assumption that they'll never have to pay the penalty. "The person who commits violent crime is not a rocket scientist," Oppal said. "They do these things on the basis that they're not going to get caught." A community court system would require involvement from the Ministry of Health, provincial health authorities, the B.C. Corrections branch and law enforcement, said Oppal. Premier Gordon Campbell and the rest of the B.C. Liberal caucus are committed to exploring new ways to deal with chronic offenders, but Oppal said it will be at least six months before he can attach a timeframe to the initiative. He also said there's a recognition that a community court system would cost more in the short-term but hopefully save money on policing and health care in the long run. "It will require more resources, but it will also require the redirection of existing resources," he said. Victoria police chief Paul Battershill, who attended Wednesday's luncheon, applauded Oppal's community court proposal. "I know that some of the Ontario drug courts mandate maintaining supervision over the offender for a period of several years," he said. "I think it's a much more accountable system. There's more accountability for everyone." Despite alarm over the increase in property crime, gun violence and other major crimes are on the decline in B.C., Oppal said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom