“They should have done more with respect to committed prosecutors,”

That’s from BC United Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris after the area stated they will be setting up 12 hubs to handle violent prolific offenders.

Each hub will consist of a different team of police, prosecutors, and probation officers who will handle repeat violent offenders who come back into the justice system.

Though, Morris told Vista Radio he tabled one of the solutions years ago and the NDP didn’t bite.

“I suggested that we provide committed prosecutors to deal with prolific offenders back in 2018. It has taken them this long to put this together. How numerous victims have we had and how many people have misplaced their lives.”

 

He added when the Local Tactical Implementation Priority Team was in place years ago, more of these offenders were caught and kept in custody.

“They targetted productive offenders in every community across the province and ones that rose to the top that were involved provincially were targeted by the local teams. That worked very well. They were taking productive offenders off the street and they were getting convictions and people remanded into care.”

Morris said the unit scattered after the NDP changed the charge approval policy and was not prosecuting management of justice offenses.

“It frustrated that entire program and it fell apart for the reason that these guys were getting out quicker than the police officers could track them. We had somewhat in place before.”

“We don’t need to change the laws. Bill C-75 didn’t change things so dramatically that it forbade keeping people from being in custody, we just have to supply the information the judges need and that can only happen by adding dedicated prosecutors,”

Three of the 12 hubs will be located in Prince George, Terrace, and Williams Lake.