JUSTICE JUST A REVOLVING DOOR

Canadians are so used to seeing career criminals get a slap on the
wrist that the disconcerting but accurate phrase "revolving-door
justice" has become a regular part of our vocabulary.

Despite our immense frustration over what's perceived as a broken
justice system, we've tended to resign ourselves to the fact that few
criminals ever get the punishment they deserve. The feeling has been
that politicians, lawyers and judges are on a different planet than
the citizenry when it comes to sentencing and that the ideological
gulf is widening.

So any signal that the authorities acknowledge that the system needs
an overhaul is a baby step forward in the complicated tug-of-war
between protecting the public and rehabilitating cons.

The province of Alberta just set up a Safe Communities Secretariat, in
response to a task force report last year, to oversee a variety of
initiatives, including keeping hardcore offenders behind bars for longer.

And this week, the Vancouver police department released a report on
the staggering economic and social harm caused by a small group of
chronic property crime offenders.

Both reports call for tougher sentences for repeat criminals. "Too
many of the same people are committing crimes over and over again,"
says the Alberta task force paper. The dark side of the boom has
resulted in more homelessness on one hand and increased disposable
income on the other which has fuelled drug- and alcohol-based crime,
it notes.

"The 'work hard, play hard' culture that has developed in Alberta is a
dangerous one," the report warns. "It's more than just abuse of
alcohol and drugs -- it's the attitude and excessive drinking that the
recreational use of drugs are acceptable in our society."

Cracking down on prolific offenders and potential chronic lawbreakers
is a priority, says Bill Wister, head of the Safe Communities
Secretariat. A small percentage of offenders is responsible for the
majority of crimes, he adds.

The goal is to push for longer sentences while tackling the root
causes that drive such people to reoffend. Prosecutors will be urging
judges to consider a criminal's pattern of repeat offences as an
aggravating factor in sentencing, says Wister.

The Vancouver police department's report is a shocking example of why
an offender's criminal history -- not just his latest crime -- is so
crucial to effective sentencing.

Sentences for property crime actually decrease after an offender has
been convicted of 30 crimes, according to the paper.

The 379 chronic offenders studied had an average of 39 convictions
each and one-quarter of them had more than 54 convictions.

A closer look at 75 of them showed they collectively committed more
than 2,300 crimes and almost 90% of them got six months or less in
jail after their 10th convictions. Incredibly, one-quarter of them
spent only one day in jail.

154 Convictions

One 42-year-old crack cocaine addict has amassed 154 convictions since
1985. Still, the longest sentence he received over his last 10
convictions was 91 days -- which is also the most time he ever spent
in jail for his first 10 offences.

Another addict who's been convicted more than 80 times over two
decades admits to committing up to 35 property crimes a day to support
his habit. He told the cops he's "pretty content" with his life.

That's understandable since he faces no consequences for his
criminality. Doesn't exactly make you feel safe, does it?