EDITORIAL: Jail versus bail
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Updated: October 01, 2009 11:07 AM
B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed recently extolled the virtues of prevention and early intervention when it comes to combatting crime.
Heed said families, non-profit groups and the government all have a role to play in ensuring young people choose the right path in life.
“We have to invest in our kids,” Heed said.
He said among other things, “investing in youth” with keep-them-straight programs would make it harder for gangs to find replacements when the cops lock up the criminals.
He’s right, of course. To make a difference in the long run, children need support in the early years, long before the lure of criminal activity – with its perceived lavish lifestyle and easy money – takes hold.
But Heed was working a tough crowd last Friday. One audience member suggested B.C. should adopt a European-style law that allows “preventative detection” by arresting crooks before they can commit crimes.
As Heed pointed out, police can’t incarcerate people on merely the suspicion of wrongdoing.
“We never want to get to a system where we think we’re going to get out of all our problems by locking everyone up in jail,” Heed said.
Fair enough. But it’s easy to understand the frustration behind the person’s suggestion as so many stories in the media show police offering warnings about released criminals who pose safety risks to the community.
Prevention and rehabilitation are all well and good, and deserve to form the cornerstones of our justice system.
But when it comes to dangerous offenders who pose a serious threat to the public, most times, they’re better off behind bars.
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