News (Media Awareness Project) - CN ON: Editorial: Tomorrow's Offender, Today's Troubled Child |
| Title: | CN ON: Editorial: Tomorrow's Offender, Today's Troubled Child |
| Published On: | 2008-07-31 |
| Source: | Vaughan Citizen (CN ON) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-08-02 17:37:24 |
TOMORROW'S OFFENDER, TODAY'S TROUBLED CHILD
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. That is the message
federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson sent to criminals and would-be
lawbreakers this week.
Ah, if only it was as easy as asking criminals not to get involved
with, say, guns and drugs - and they listened and got a well-paying
job instead.
Part of the Tories' crackdown on crime includes longer minimum
sentences for some crimes involving guns and drugs.
That's not a bad idea in itself, but it falls far short of reducing
what the government calls an "unacceptably high" crime rate. Law and
order types say if the penalties for doing crime are stiffer,
criminal minds will likely think twice.
First of all, Canada's crime rate declined for the third straight
year in 2007, capping a general decline since peaking in 1991, and
the overall crime rate among youth aged 12 to 17 tapered off slightly.
The number of robberies committed with a gun, for example, declined
12 per cent last year to reach its lowest point in more than 30 years.
There were also fewer serious violent crimes such as attempted
murders, sexual assaults and homicides.
For crimes such as possession of a firearm, a first-time offender now
faces a minimum sentence of three years, as opposed to the previous
one-year term, and a second offence will get you five years.
But none of this matters unless you invest in programs and services
geared to catching at-risk people before they fall through the cracks
and end up commiting crimes. It is vitally important to quell the
causes of crime - poverty, social environment and family situation -
that are well-documented and researched.
Sure, keeping a person in prison ensures he will not commit another
crime while serving his sentence, but it doesn't address what caused
that crime in the first place.
Someone once said the offender of tomorrow is often the vulnerable
child of today.
If the Tories really want to take a bite out of crime, they should
strengthen national programs dealing with children, families, poverty
and housing.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. That is the message
federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson sent to criminals and would-be
lawbreakers this week.
Ah, if only it was as easy as asking criminals not to get involved
with, say, guns and drugs - and they listened and got a well-paying
job instead.
Part of the Tories' crackdown on crime includes longer minimum
sentences for some crimes involving guns and drugs.
That's not a bad idea in itself, but it falls far short of reducing
what the government calls an "unacceptably high" crime rate. Law and
order types say if the penalties for doing crime are stiffer,
criminal minds will likely think twice.
First of all, Canada's crime rate declined for the third straight
year in 2007, capping a general decline since peaking in 1991, and
the overall crime rate among youth aged 12 to 17 tapered off slightly.
The number of robberies committed with a gun, for example, declined
12 per cent last year to reach its lowest point in more than 30 years.
There were also fewer serious violent crimes such as attempted
murders, sexual assaults and homicides.
For crimes such as possession of a firearm, a first-time offender now
faces a minimum sentence of three years, as opposed to the previous
one-year term, and a second offence will get you five years.
But none of this matters unless you invest in programs and services
geared to catching at-risk people before they fall through the cracks
and end up commiting crimes. It is vitally important to quell the
causes of crime - poverty, social environment and family situation -
that are well-documented and researched.
Sure, keeping a person in prison ensures he will not commit another
crime while serving his sentence, but it doesn't address what caused
that crime in the first place.
Someone once said the offender of tomorrow is often the vulnerable
child of today.
If the Tories really want to take a bite out of crime, they should
strengthen national programs dealing with children, families, poverty
and housing.
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