In the past when Manitobans thought about violence, there might have been a tendency to think it was limited to only certain parts of the province’s largest city. Unfortunately, today there is evidence that not only are violent acts on the rise, they are taking place across the province.
This past week was a sad example of how violent criminal acts are touching every area of Manitoba. From three random attacks on Winnipeggers by youth carrying a hatchet, to a vicious beating in the City of Steinbach to a shooting in Selkirk, every week seems to bring more disturbing levels of violence.
Last year in Manitoba there was a 15% increase in assaults and stabbings in Manitoba. Much of the increase in this violence is due to more gang activity and with it, increased drug trade.
The increase in violence led to the Winnipeg Police Association speaking out and seeking solutions to this violence. Police officers are the ones who see and deal first hand with the violence that gangs and the drug trade bring. Because of this the ideas that they bring forward need special attention.
One of the suggestions by Winnipeg Police is that there should be a zero tolerance policy in place on gang members who violate any court ordered condition of bail or parole that they have. Police suggest that there should be a special concentration on checking that these known gang members are fully obeying the conditions placed upon them and if they are not, they should be brought right back to jail.
That is a suggestion that just seems like common sense and, in fact, it is astonishing that it is not being done right now as a way to reduce a growing problem with violence. Yet when I asked the Minister of Justice in the Manitoba Legislature this past week why, after 9 years in government, the NDP had not brought in a zero tolerance policy on gang members violating their bail and parole conditions he simply said he thought enough was being done already.
Clearly enough is not being done because each and every year violence grows in Manitoba and it seems to grow in every area of the province.
Another suggestion by Winnipeg Police is aggressively tackling drug addiction problems of individuals while they are serving time in prison. People who commit serious crimes should be given the consequences to go along with the crime. However, the police know full well that if jail time isn’t used to end addiction, it is likely that individuals coming out of prison are going to fall back into addiction and crime.
Zero tolerance for gang members violating conditions of bail and parole and intense drug addiction treatment in prisons are just two solutions the Winnipeg Police Association have put forward to tackle crime. They are suggestions that should be listened to and they are made by officers who deserve to have their voices heard.
