LOCKING UP PREDATORS KEEPS US SAFE

In Canada the vast majority of people never commit a crime. A very
small percentage of the population preys on the rest of us.

These predators steal our bikes and cars, snatch purses, break into
homes and businesses and assault men, women and children in a variety of ways.

The Conservative government's proposal to impose some mandatory jail
time for these criminals has met with strong opposition, most
recently by a local lawyer ("Fear triumphs over reason in justice
bills," May 11).

We are told that Canadians' fears are unfounded as crime in Canada is
decreasing, that mandatory sentences have failed in the U.S., that
judges' discretion works and that it costs too much to put criminals in prison.

Yet anyone who reads a paper sees a litany of lax probation and
parole decisions, mandatory early release of unrepentant criminals,
violent offenders released while awaiting distant hearings,
ridiculously inadequate sentences, concurrent sentences which allow a
criminal to commit several crimes but serve time for only one and the
travesty of conditional sentences in which criminals are "sentenced"
to go home at night and stay there until early the next morning.
(Many of us non-criminals have been serving this sentence voluntarily
for years.)

Canadians who fear crime do not do so because they are irrational or
mis-informed.

They have noticed that under our current justice system bad people
can do anything they want to them or their families and nothing of
consequence will happen to the criminals.

We hear that prison doesn't work. Actually, it works almost perfectly.

Will prison reform criminals? Probably not.

Will putting one criminal in jail deter another? Maybe not.

But putting a predator in prison for a significant term does give us
a well-deserved time out from his criminal behaviour.

It is important to work to end poverty and racism, promote social
justice and to rehabilitate people in prison.

While we work on this, why not put some effort into public safety.

Joel Newman

Victoria.