The Surrey Board of Trade is pleased about the BC Government’s new measures directed at reducing the impact of repeat offenders.
“The economic development of any community relies upon its reputation as a safe, viable region in which to locate and do business with supporting infrastructure, community assets, and most importantly, customers willing to walk in the door,” said Anita Huberman, President & CEO, Surrey Board of Trade. “The Safer Communities Action Plan is in line with our advocacy to government on repeat offenders. We look forward to seeing the coordination and collaboration with all agencies to show impact in Surrey.”
New measures announced include:
- launching new repeat violent offender coordinated response teams, made up of police, and dedicated prosecutors and probation officers;
expanding mental health crisis response teams into more communities so police can focus on crime, and people in crisis are met early on by healthcare workers and community members; - taking the next steps in creating a new model of addictions care at St. Paul’s Hospital so people can seamlessly move from crisis response in the emergency room, to detox, to treatment services, in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care, with plans to expand this model in the future;
- opening 10 new Indigenous Justice Centres to provide culturally appropriate support for Indigenous Peoples involved in the justice system to address the root causes of their involvement in the system and help them break the cycle;
- going after the houses, cars and luxury goods of high-level organized criminals who profit on misery by introducing “unexplained wealth order” legislation in spring 2023; and,
- building public confidence in the prosecution system with new direction from the Attorney General to prosecutors to implement a clear and understandable approach to bail for repeat violent offenders within the existing federal law. The new policy will take effect on November 22, 2022.
Read the news release here.
Read the Surrey Board of Trade policy here.
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Anita Huberman, 604-634-0342, anita@businessinsurrey.com
