The provincial government has received the final investigative report looking into repeat unprovoked, violent stranger attacks in B.C.
More than 60 experts “with practical or academic knowledge” contributed to the report, including mayors, police, the BC Prosecution Service and health authorities, according to the province.
The final report follows the release of 28 recommendations that was published on Sept. 21, 2022, which included increasing mental health crisis response teams, diverting accused people with serious mental disorders from the criminal system, and creating secure housing units for clients with complex mental health in order to address chronic criminal offenders.
Get daily BC news
The B.C. government said it is working on three recommendations made by experts:
- Bringing back the “prolific offender management program” that ran from 2008 to 2012. “The program had success bringing together community partners such as police, mental-health and community support service providers to monitor and help offenders break the cycle of repeat offending and was shown to reduce repeat offending by as much as 40 per cent in the first year,” the province said, in a release.
- Establish a provincial committee to co-ordinate supports for people with complex health-care needs in the criminal justice system
- Develop a pilot program with the BC First Nations Justice Council which will be based at the Prince George First nations Justice Centre to “better support Indigenous people who come into conflict with the law,” the province said.
The B.C. government has made the full report available for reading on its website.
People can also read the announcement regarding the 28 recommendations from Sept. 21 on the website as well.