When individuals who are accused of a crime are released on bail awaiting trial they are often given what is known as court orders. These court orders usually include restrictions on the places an accused person can go and the things they can do. They may restrict the use of alcohol or impose a curfew on an individual so that they need to be home at a certain time of night.
Similar court orders can be placed on an individual who is released from jail after serving time for a crime.
If an accused or a convicted criminal fails to obey these court orders, which should be monitored by probation officers or police under the current system, they are said to be in breach of their court orders. It is likely that at any given time in Manitoba, there are hundreds if not thousands of court orders that are in breach. Unfortunately, the exact number of court orders not being followed is unknown because the NDP government refuses to release this information likely because it would be a shocking statistic.
The fact that court orders are seen as a joke by many criminals came to light again this past week after the apparently random attack on eight people including a 24 year old Winnipeg man who died at the hands of four individuals now accused and charged in the crime spree.
Of the four assailants, each with gang associations, three had extensive criminal backgrounds and were under various court orders such as curfews that were not being followed. The fact is that police and probation officers do not have the resources to enforce the court orders that are in place on many high risk individuals and the criminals know it. They simply ignore their court orders knowing full well that they are likely never going to be caught.
Instead of using technology like electronic monitoring to ensure these high risk gang members are obeying their curfews or ensuring there are enough police and other officials to conduct regular checks on curfews, the NDP government in Manitoba has chosen to cover up the number of court orders that are not being followed in the province. The decision to ignore the problem and hope that no one notices is a foolish and deadly one as seen by the violence in Manitoba this summer.
If the court orders that are given to accused and convicted criminals were enforced rigorously, there would be a significant reduction in crime and violence. The fact is, police know who many of the most dangerous offenders are and where they are supposed to be but it is difficult with their limited resources to make the checks.
Using electronic technology and court order enforcement units would go a long way to making our province safer. Unfortunately, the NDP government is more concerned with covering up the problem than working on a solution. And the criminals are left laughing at what they see as nothing but a joke.
