So our Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to lock them up and throw away the key. Longer prison sentences, less community re-integration and more police patrolling neighbourhoods will reduce serious crimes, he says. He announced the Conservative government's plans to fight crime at the Canadian Professional Police Association this week. Take one look at the United States criminal justice system, Mr. Harper, and you'll see that building more jails does not reduce crime. Why? Because jails are crime schools where offenders can learn new tricks of the trade and make new contacts. And because they do not address the underlying issues leading to drug addiction and violence.
Statistics show the crime rates in Canada have been steadily declining since 1991. The violent crime rate has been declining since 1992. However, Harper is correct that homicide, weapons, drug and gang offences have gone up. And yes, weapons and drug offences are a problem on the Sunshine Coast. But I am a strong believer in the four pillars approach to drug addiction: harm reduction, prevention, treatment and enforcement - a more balanced approach than just enforcement. And police forces are coming on board to this approach. Instilling fear in the public that we could end up dodging bullets while walking down the street unless his proposed changes move ahead may have won Harper votes and helped his approval ratings, but it is not going to "tackle" crime problems.
Harper wants to get "violent criminals off the streets so they can't re-offend," he said in his speech. But they will have to be released eventually, unless taxpayers want to foot the bill to keep all offenders in jail for life, so supervised re-integration programs like parole are important for community safety.
The Conservatives plan to repeal the Faint Hope Clause, a provision allowing those serving a life sentence to have their parole ineligibility period reviewed after 15 years. Next thing you know he'll be bringing back the death penalty, which life sentences including the Faint Hope Clause provision replaced in 1976.
Harper's Conservatives plan to scrap a proposal to decriminalize marijuana to "get drugs off the streets, away from our children and clean up our communities," he says. Meanwhile, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs remain legal. "If we legalize drugs like marijuana, it will make it easier for our children to get hold of it," he said in his speech. It wasn't too long ago that I was in high school, where it was easier to buy a baggie of weed in the alley behind the school than to buy cigarettes at the 7-11 or beer at the liquor store. Drug dealers are not required to ask for ID, unlike store clerks.
My opinion may not be popular in this community. But I would hope that after spending five years studying criminology and two years working professionally on the front lines with offenders, I walked away learning something.
