After a string of murders to start the year, the City of Surrey is pushing for a change to the justice system.
Councillor Barinder Rasode says there seems to be a revolving door in the Courts for prolific offenders.
Rasode says the justice system actually creates prolific offenders which in turn can be responsible for various crimes, including murder, “I believe that if there was a criminal record check on the deceased or the people who have done the crime, in this case, they all probably have a really lengthy record. So, at which point should they have been incarcerated for a very long time for their violent serious crimes? And the issue of domestic abuse is certainly one that we have championed in Surrey with the Surrey Coalition Against Domestic Abuse.”
Rasode says it is time to treat substance abuse and other root factors that create career criminals.
“Lets get our families to unlearn behaviours. Lets get people with mental illness treatment so they are no longer committing the same crimes and they are actually becoming healthy contributing members of society. Lets look at restorative justice. Lets look at individualized sentencing plans that actually have not only a treatment but a community component.”
Rasode says the current system is falling short.
“A court system that creates prolific offenders because we are not dealing with the root causes of peoples behaviour whether it be mental illness, one in three inmates deal with mental illnesses. issues around domestic abuse, issues around substance abuse. What we are creating is a revolving door that is leading to mistrust of the Justice system.”
She says the justice system is also lacking proper support and treatment programs, especially for young offenders.
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