Premier David Eby speaks about new hubs to target violent crime during a press conference in front of the Provincial Court of British Columbia in Nanaimo, B.C., on April 12.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
B.C. has unveiled the dozen communities where specialized teams of Crown prosecutors, police and probation officers will begin targeting repeat violent offenders next month for more tailor-made punishments as well as ensuring they get mental health and addiction treatments.
But Wednesday’s announcement came 15 hours after the stabbing death of a teen riding a bus in Surrey, Vancouver’s largest suburb, which police believe was targeted and stemmed from a fight between the victim and his unknown assailant. Premier David Eby said the homicide underscores the urgent need to improve public safety across many communities in his province.
“Horrific news out of Surrey and absolutely part of why we’re here today,” Mr. Eby told reporters at a press conference in Nanaimo, one of the 12 cities that will be law-enforcement hubs. The premier was flanked by three ministers, the mayor of Nanaimo and a local RCMP commander.
The specialized teams are a major part of the provincial response to the small number of people – most of them dealing with homelessness, mental-health issues and addictions – who continue assaulting strangers in cities across British Columbia.
Mr. Eby said the prosecutors and BC Corrections staff are undergoing training right now and the law-enforcement hubs will soon be operating in Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Prince George, Terrace and Williams Lake.
The fatal stabbing of the 17-year-old Surrey boy on Tuesday echoes the killing of 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes at a Toronto subway stop last month, which heightened anxiety over increased public disorder, especially on transit. Also on Wednesday, a shooting on a Calgary bus sent one person to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Two weeks ago, another passenger on a Surrey bus had their throat slashed with a dull kitchen knife by a man who was later charged with terrorism offences and attempted murder.
The random nature of some of the attacks, especially the TTC killing, has spurred more debate across the country as to whether courts are too quick to release those who attack strangers.
“This uptick in repeat violent offending that we’re seeing is unnerving for many and it’s completely unacceptable,” Mr. Eby said Wednesday.
The Metro Vancouver Transit Police, which patrols the region’s network of subway lines, buses and ferry routes, said ridership has increased dramatically since the first waves of the pandemic, but the rate of violent or potentially violent crimes reported to the agency has fallen by 21 per cent from 2021 to last year, the latest data available.
Still, the transit police are now stepping up patrols and creating a task force with the Surrey RCMP to respond to the recent violent incidents.
Corporal Vanessa Munn, a spokesperson for the Surrey RCMP, said Tuesday’s homicide was “every parent’s nightmare.”
There is no reliable tally of the number of people who repeatedly attack others in public settings across B.C. A group of mayors estimated last year that there could be as few as 200. A recent Globe and Mail investigation uncovered systemic gaps that allow a disruptive few to cause lots of public disorder and overburden the court system.
The Globe highlighted the long criminal history of Mohammed Majidpour, who has repeatedly been convicted of shoplifting offences and random assaults, as a case study in the way B.C.’s overwhelmed justice system often releases violent offenders after brief periods of incarceration, even in cases where they don’t – or are unable to – comply with bail or probation conditions.
A number of incidents over the past year have shocked the public and made the problem into a political issue in the province.
The dedicated teams of prosecutors, police and corrections officers were first used on a trial basis by a previous B.C. government, but the pilot project ended a decade ago. Its revival was recommended last year in an expert report commissioned by the B.C. government.
The dozen communities announced Wednesday will act as hubs from which these specialists will also help counsel colleagues targeting repeat violent offenders in smaller, neighbouring communities, Mr. Eby said.
The program will involve identifying the most active repeat violent offenders. The new teams will then decide whether to ask judges to deny those offenders bail. If release is more appropriate, the teams will help create plans for drug or mental-health treatment. Probation and police officers will closely monitor each case to make sure the conditions of release are followed.