LET'S TAKE COMMUNITY COURT PLAN WITH A HEALTHY PINCH OF SALT

Three cheers for B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal for recognizing
that property crime is "the major issue" in our cities and that his
government must do something about it. But let's hope his suggestion
that we set up special community courts to confront the problem is not
clouded by the same woolly thinking that helped create the nightmare
in the first place.

Despite a drop in reported property crime in the City of Vancouver
last year, thefts from restaurants, hotels, homes and cars continue at
a torrid pace. Almost everyone you talk to in B.C. has been robbed, or
knows someone who has.

And it doesn't help our international reputation when, for example,
visiting members of a Chinese finance mission report that their
handbags and passports have been stolen.

So any initiative to eliminate this continuing black mark on our
beautiful province is welcome.

Oppal's plan for community courts to reduce B.C. property crime
certainly seems exciting.

The former B.C. Court of Appeal judge says they have worked well in
all 27 U.S. jurisdictions where they have been tried: "Maybe it's time
we started doing something different, something creative."

Creative thinking on crime-prevention is, of course, always welcome.
We're concerned, though, about some of the other comments Oppal made
last week in Victoria.

Oppal maintains that jail time, tougher sentences and mandatory
minimum jail terms won't solve the property-crime problem. He notes
that many offenders have drug, alcohol or mental problems -- and that
longer jail terms don't guarantee safer streets, as has been shown in
the U.S.

"We need to start treating the root causes of crime so we don't have
the revolving-door syndrome we're now suffering from," he says.

Now, attempting to treat the root causes of crime sounds fine. But in
the meantime, British Columbians continue to get ripped by repeat
offenders whom our courts treat with kid gloves.

So, what does he plan to do about that?

At least putting chronic thieves in jail for a long time does get them
off the streets for a while and stop them from victimizing law-abiding
people.

Besides, has the B.C. justice system's look-the-other-way approach to
drug abuse really worked?

No, it hasn't.

Community courts are welcome if, in fact, they makes our streets and
homes safer.

However, if they're simply going to follow in the footsteps of our
regular courts and mollycoddle career criminals -- who mock our
justice system -- they won't work.