Alberta making changes to Crown prosecutors to fight rise in violent crime

The Alberta government is making changes to criminal prosecutions to reduce the rise in violent crime.

Justice Minister Mickey Amery says special teams of Crown prosecutors will be formed to focus on violent crime and criminals in Edmonton and Calgary.

Prosecutors will also be given new direction to argue before judges that violent repeat offenders should either be held in custody or be subject to bail rules that will ensure public safety.

"There's an increasing sense that our justice system is not holding criminals publicly accountable for their actions and letting the public suffer the consequences," Amery told a news conference Monday.

"This is simply unacceptable."

The new teams are to be drawn from the existing pool of 300 prosecutors and will specialize in issues plaguing downtown communities, such as drug houses.

Amery also announced the province's 2017 triage protocol for prosecutors is no longer necessary and will be abandoned.

The protocol was implemented to stop cases from being tossed out due to excessive delays. Prosecutors were asked to take resources into consideration when deciding to pursue some cases, including seeking plea deals and considering whether cases were winnable.

The province has hired 50 more prosecutors in recent years, and Amery said the Crown Prosecution Service has assured it can handle the increased workload as the triage protocol is abandoned.

Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said the changes come with other previously announced supports, including money for 50 new police officers in both Edmonton and Calgary respectively, as well as $5 million for each city to make transit rides safer.

Ellis said the province is tackling root causes of crime through a number of measures, including 10,000 new publicly funded addiction treatment spaces.

But Ellis said residents' immediate needs can't be ignored.

"You have the right to walk down the street without being violently attacked," said Ellis.

"You have a right to take transit without inhaling second-hand crystal meth smoke. And you have a right to walk downtown without being caught between clashes of violent organized crime gangs."

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he agrees the root causes of crime must be addressed, but that city council must act on concerns from residents and business owners who don't feel safe in their neighbourhoods.

"We heard you that you're concerned about visible drug use in public spaces," said Sohi.

"Everyone here agrees that the status quo is simply not working and things must change. We need to stabilize the situation."

Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee said the announcement is "the start of a new direction."

"There's been a visible increase in socially unacceptable behaviours on our streets, in places like our parks, pedways, LRT stations and most other public spaces across our city," said McFee.

"The impacts of open air drug use [and] the drug trade have become increasingly prominent, unpredictable [and] random. Violent behaviours due to the types of drugs available are rising and the criminal element is only growing."

Skepticism and support 

Some experts and community advocates are wary of how much impact the changes will have on addressing the root causes of social disorder. 

Doug King, a professor of criminal justice at Mount Royal University, said there may be logistical challenges in implementing the province's proposed changes. 

"I'm a little bit skeptical of that. Quite frankly, I worry about not just Crown prosecutors but I'm worried about courtrooms. Are there enough courtrooms? And are there enough judges?" he said.

"We do know that the federal government of Canada ... who appoints the federal judges for superior court and upwards has been incredibly slow in filling vacancies of judges."  

Sindi Addorisio manages Boyle Street Community Services' new health hub, Mahihkan Kamik, which means "wolf den" in Cree. 

She said there needs to be a greater degree of support for supervised consumption sites and a commitment to better mental health and housing access.  

"Data is showing currently that more folks are smoking the substances that they are consuming, and we, to date, we don't have any inhalation rooms. The seven booths that we do have are injection drug use," she said. 

"We definitely need more supervised consumption sites with booths that can accommodate the folks that are using intravenous or orally." 

NDP response

Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir said the United Conservative Party government has failed to address Alberta's violent crime rate by actions such as off-loading policing costs onto municipalities and cutting social supports.

"Combined with other UCP cuts and policies, violent crime has steadily increased along with rising rates of poverty, houselessness, addictions and the proliferation of guns and gangs," said Sabir in a statement.

"Instead of re-announcing their previous commitments, the UCP must reverse all of their cuts while investing in addressing crimes and crime prevention, stopping repeat offenders and providing funding to address the social determinants of crime."

"Albertans have had enough of empty UCP promises."