Editor’s Note: The Office of the Attorney General initially told Global News that Indigenous Justice Centres were called First Nations Justice Centres, but that is incorrect. It also said five centres were set to open by the end of the year but in fact, there are already four centres open and one virtual centre. There are five more to open by the end of the year. The office’s errors are corrected in the article below.
Curtis George McCallum, 49, smashed the windows of a TD bank on the edge of Vancouver’s Gastown twice in five weeks last year and was sentenced to 18 months probation.
McCallum, a convicted killer from Edmonton, is now accused of assault causing bodily harm in Richmond on July 19 and three counts of mischief in Hope, B.C. on Sept. 6, 2022 — days before the first TD vandalism spree on Sept. 12, 2022.
Scott Taylor, who shot video of McCallum breaking the bank’s windows for a second time on Oct. 19, 2022, is not surprised and said he still regularly witnesses lawlessness — including brazen shoplifting and broken windows — in downtown Vancouver.
“It hasn’t gotten any worse but I don’t really see it getting any better,” Taylor told Global News in an interview Friday.
It’s been one year since the B.C. government received its final investigative report on the challenges communities are facing due to repeat offending and unprovoked, violent stranger attacks — following the Sept. 21, 2022 release of 28 recommendations from its co-authors: former deputy Vancouver police chief Doug LePard and health researcher and criminologist Amanda Butler.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said the province reviewed the recommendations and responded by launching the Safer Communities Action Plan, which is acting on or implementing all of the 28 recommendations.
Sharma said the province is working with the First Nations Justice Council to expand Indigenous Justice Centres, recommendation 11 in the Lepard-Butler report. Four locations and one virtual centre are up and running with five more centres to open by the end of the year.
A repeat offenders’ task force with police, prosecutors and probation officers is also monitoring 283 of the most violent offenders in the province, said Sharma.
“The goal of that is to increase community safety and make sure that they are kept off the streets,” Sharma told Global News in an interview Friday.
The Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative (ReVOII) is based on recommendations 21 and 22 and operating in 12 hubs: Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Prince George, Williams Lake, and Terrace.
As per recommendation 1 from the Lepard-Butler report, the Safer Communities Action Plan has committed to 12 Peer-Assisted Care Teams (PACTs).
Three teams are up and running in New Westminster, Victoria, and the North Shore where they provided support through nearly 900 calls – with minimal police interaction – in the first six months of 2023. Three more PACTs are being developed for Prince George, Kamloops, and Courtenay/Comox.
The Attorney General’s ministry said the cloud-based digital app HealthIM supports and documents police officers’ field investigations by prompting answers for a risk assessment, evaluating risk for potential Mental Health Act apprehensions, and transmitting reports to local hospitals when needed. This action reflects recommendation 17 for better information sharing between health, justice and social service agencies.
In alignment with recommendation 10 for a significant investment in dedicated services and publicly funded programs for people with acquired brain injuries and developmental disabilities, the province has provided $4.5 million to the Brain Injury Alliance, which supports people living with brain injuries in communities across B.C.
Citing the Oct. 4 release of violent repeat offender Mohammed Majidpour after he allegedly breached his probation order on an Aug. 2 sentence for a random racist attack on a 19-year-old Asian student last year, Port Coquitlam’s mayor said on the ground, nothing has changed.
“It’s just absolute madness and I think the public is asking what is it going to take to make it stop?” Brad West told Global News Friday.
West said the entire system, which is geared towards releasing people including violent repeat offenders, needs to change.
“I don’t think this criminal justice system is capable of reform,” said West. “It needs to be rebuilt from scratch and we need to start by prioritizing public safety and prioritizing victims.”
In response, Sharma said she continues to urge the Senate to pass the long-awaited bail reform bill, with the aim of making it harder for repeat violent offenders to be granted bail.
“Everybody deserves to feel safe in their community and we are taking the steps necessary and taking the actions necessary to get there,” Sharma told Global News. “It’s a complicated problem and we know we need federal support and that’s why I’m in Ottawa quite often advocating for that.”
“There needs to be consequences and people need to understand that if they misbehave, they will be punished for it,” added Taylor.
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