by Kelly Hayes & Rachael Kimola -Sep 26, 2008 CASTANET
An idea which started in New York could soon be making its way to the Okanagan. An expedited court system known as ‘community court’ is being considered by Kelowna RCMP as a way to deal with prolific offenders and drug addicts. RCMP Superintendent Bill McKinnon says the method of displacing people into the Red Zone is just a bandaid solution. “We really haven’t solved the problem, we displace people, they move on. It’s dealing with the prolific offenders who commit generally nuisance crimes, petty crimes like stealing from cars and shoplifting. A large number of the people we deal with are committing petty crimes in order to survive, to get the money to feed their addiction,” says McKinnon. He says the community court works by getting all social agencies on board together to put a person back on the right track.
“The courts are often criticized for their turn-style, swinging door approach where the offender comes into court in the morning and is back on the streets by the afternoon. Then what have we really solved?” McKinnon says in our current system, in many cases, a person can appear nine times before they are dealt with by the courts. “This is an expedited system where the person’s appearance is held within a fairly short time frame, and they are able to deal with the problem so it doesn’t go on forever. Part of their sentence may be that they are forced into an addiction program where its mandatory they attend. “ He says they are watching the progress of the Vancouver community court system to get an idea of how the system would work. “I’m not sure how much work has to be done in the background, but I think if we got all the partners all at the same table, hopefully something could be in place by next summer.”
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Prov. Press Release re Vancouver's Community Courts.
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