“It’s been kicked down the road,”: PG-Mackenzie MLA says prolific offenders need to be kept off the streets

Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris is once again calling on the province to end the catch-and-release justice system when it comes to prolific offenders.

In an interview with Vista Radio, Morris noted there are still provisions in the Criminal Code that require prosecutors to ensure judges are seized with the information so a decision can be made to hold them in custody.

Unfortunately, Morris told Vista Radio prosecutors face an uphill battle in terms of their workload.

“The problem is the workload that has been piled on because of C-75 has added a lot to the prosecutors and they simply just don’t have the time or resources based on the way they are currently funded and staffed in order to ensure the judge has the information necessary.”

Morris, like his colleague and Cariboo-North MLA Coralee Oakes would like to see the province create a special crown prosecution team to look at prolific offenders.

He believes the issue is only getting worse in cities like Prince George.

“We have prolific offenders that are out there who are in the face of police and crown counsel every day. If we only concentrated on Prince George, I’ll bet you that if they looked at 20 or 30 individuals they would be able to reduce the crime load by about 80%.”

“There is a lot that can be done that this government is ignoring or for whatever reason they don’t want to go in that direction.”

A possible directive would identify a prolific offender as any person over the age of 19 who has been convicted 16 or more times for a Criminal Code of Canada offence or a crime under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act

“That’s why I have been calling for these dedicated prosecutors for prolific offenders so they know those files inside and out. There is no question that once the judge sees the information they will have no choice but to hold that individual in custody because of their record,” added Morris.

While all of these seem like good solutions, more could be done in the immediate term.

“There is currently in place enough legislation – the Criminal Code of Canada has enough authorities in it for the prosecutors and the judges to take action today. They don’t need anything else.”

Last month, Morris vented his frustrations on the prolific offender recommendations, which he believes fall short of protecting the public.

Just under half centered around improving mental health services including one where the province is asked to make a significant investment for people with acquired brain injuries and developmental disabilities.

Morris told Vista Radio at that time while some offenders are in need of these services, that doesn’t excuse the serious crimes they’ve committed.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact prolific offenders that the police deal with are bad people for the most part. They are the ones going out and taking advantage of a lot of the vulnerable people that we have in society who do suffer from mental health and addictions. They are dangerous people for the most part and they (the committee) completely missed that point.”

Another one of the recommendations called for the term “prolific offender” to be scrapped by all police and government agencies – a view Morris vehemently disagrees with.

“Prolific offender is the only term that we should be able to apply to these folks that continually come through the doors after coming in contact with police for prohibited weapons, bullet-proof vests, and stealing vehicle after vehicle ignoring all court orders and conditions.”

“We have a problem here that needs to be addressed,”

The last recommendation that raised eyebrows in Morris was that a Retail/Business Liason be added to each police force.

He called this move shear window-dressing and what is most needed is for prosecutors to ensure the judges are seized with the information on just how bad some of the prolific offenders are.

“How many vehicles have they stolen the last time they were in court? How many victims have they taken advantage of since the last time they were in court and how many court orders have they disobeyed since the last time they were in court? The judge needs to hear that.”

In April, a letter was sent to former Attorney General David Eby as well as Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth by the BC Mayors Caucus.

Criminal offense data was collected and found PG has 15 prolific offenders.

A prolific offender is identified as someone with over 30 negative contacts within the last year.

Subsequently, a negative contact is described as an individual or suspect that has been considered a suspect or charged.

A PRIME file is better known as Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME–BC), which consists of your personal information, including your name, fingerprints and what you’re charged with, which will be collected by the police and entered into its computer system.

For example, the letter states the top 15 prolific offenders in PG generated 736 PRIME files across BC, 282 of which were negative contacts.

One of the key examples was an offender from the northern capital who accumulated 916 PRIME files since 2016 – this includes 262 in the last 12 months.