Vancouver, BC - The BC Progress Board released a discussion paper today on crime and criminal justice in British Columbia. The paper, "Reducing Crime and Improving Criminal Justice in British Columbia: Recommendations for Change", was prepared for the Board by Dr. Robert Gordon, Director of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) School of Criminology, with assistance from Dr. Bryan Kinney, Assistant Professor of Criminology at SFU. The document surveys the state of crime, criminality and criminal justice in British Columbia and provides strategic recommendations with options to make further reductions in provincial crime rates.

"The Progress Board has been concerned for some time with BC's apparent poor performance on crime indicators relative to the Canadian average and most other provinces", stated David Black, Chair of the BC Progress Board and President of Victoria-based Black Press Ltd. "The report is a timely effort to assess crime and criminality in British Columbia and to offer some options for all orders of government to consider", Black continued.

British Columbia's relative position within Canada is improving on all major crime categories, including violent, property and other crimes, but still lags behind the Canadian average on all major categories.

Other selected highlights include:

• BC's 2005 homicide rate of 2.3 per 100,000 population is slightly above the national rate of 2.0, but below Manitoba (4.2), Saskatchewan (4.3), Washington (3.3), and Oregon (3.0).



• BC has higher rates for property offences than most other provinces, along with the US states of Washington and Oregon.



• BC's robbery rate is well above Oregon State at 109 versus 68 per 100,000 population, but is similar to Washington State's rate of 92.



• In 2005, Vancouver posted a reduction in break and enters, while robbery rates have declined but remain firmly above other provincial and national Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) rates.



• Crime rates for Vancouver and Victoria CMAs reflect, for the most part, provincial trends, with 29 and 21 percent reductions in the property crime rate respectively since 1995, compared with a national reduction of 25 percent during the same time period.



• Among major CMA's in Canada, Vancouver improved the most in the auto theft category between 2004 and 2005, posting a 25 percent reduction.



• In 2005, Vancouver CMA and Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) posted identical homicide rates of 2.9 per 100,000 population.



• Aboriginal rates of victimization and involvement in criminal proceedings are notably higher than for non-Aboriginals, reporting almost three times as many victimization experiences as non-Aboriginals (31,900 versus 10,100 incidences per 100,000 population).



• Public opinion polls taken between 1997 and 2006 show that British Columbia and other western provinces view crime as more of a problem than eastern provinces, with property crime being the top-of-mind source.

"Overall British Columbia has improved in many key measures of property and violent crime offences", noted Dr. Robert Gordon. "Making further sustained progress requires concerted efforts to identify and tackle the primary causes of crime, while identifying and correcting inefficiencies in the provincial criminal justice system that may inadvertently contribute to criminal activity", Dr. Gordon continued.

The report identifies four primary causes of crime in British Columbia:

• Widespread substance abuse (both drugs and alcohol) and the activities of criminal business organizations involved in the illegal drug trade that, in part, feeds substance abuse;



• Defective or deficient childhood development practices;



• Mental disorder, including cognitive impairments such as brain injuries and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; and,



• Impoverished and unstable lifestyles experienced by many individuals living in inner urban areas, many of whom are chronic repeat offenders addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The report cites three primary clusters of problems within the criminal justice system:

• The apparent failure of the criminal justice system to ensure that offenders face the consequences of their behavior (e.g. failure to hold offenders to account for breach of probation and other orders; failure to appropriately supervise those sentenced to community-based dispositions or those granted conditional sentences; and, lenient sentencing in BC relative to other jurisdictions).



• Failure to guarantee speedy and fair disposition of cases once an offender is identified and to ensure that justice is swift, sure and effective (e.g. processing of offenders from arrest to final court disposition is cumbersome and bureaucratic especially with respect to the charge approval process and the number of provincial court appearances it takes to conclude a case).



• Inter-agency and Inter-ministry barriers and disorganization, especially with respect to the interaction of the criminal justice system with related systems such as health and social services.

"Our review for the BC Progress Board found common ground amongst experts consulted on the primary causes of crime on the one hand, and where the main problems within the criminal justice system exist on the other", noted Dr. Robert Gordon. "To confront these challenges, the report makes five strategic recommendations with options for all orders of government to consider," Dr. Gordon continued. "Efforts to tackle BC's crime and criminal justice system will require an ongoing, consistent and highly-coordinated effort", Dr. Gordon concluded.

The BC Progress Board, formed by Premier Gordon Campbell in July 2001, is an independent Panel of 18 senior business and academic leaders. The Progress Board benchmarks BC's performance on measures of economy, innovation, education, environment, health and social condition over time and relative to other jurisdictions. The Board also advises on ways to improve performance.

Contact:

Tim McEwan Executive Director B.C. Progress Board 604 775-1664