Larry Takahashi is back in penitentiary. And as a result, Victoria is not one bit safer today than it was a week ago or a month ago or last year.
No one wins with this news, though many will feel a sense of relief that somehow their safety has been restored. But the reality is that many offenders and ex-offenders woke up today in the city and will continue to do so 鈥� sex offenders, robbers, fraudsters, petty thieves, arsonists 鈥� some of them convicted offenders and some who have not yet been apprehended.
I鈥檝e never met Takahashi, but in the small world of criminal justice, I had extensive experience with his case several decades ago and know the story of his offences and victims well. His crimes were horrendous, and his victims鈥� suffering unimaginable.
When Alberta decided not to prosecute some of his crimes (having already obtained three life sentences), some of the victims were left in limbo with no official recognition of their state. As senior policy and legislative advisers to the federal solicitor general鈥檚 department, we held many discussions and meetings with those victims. As a result, Parliament amended the Corrections and Conditional Release Act so as to include the victims of the untried cases within the definition of 鈥渧ictim.鈥�
This has meant that they and others in similar circumstances are able to register with the Correctional Service of sa国际传媒 and the Parole Board of sa国际传媒 so as to be kept informed of Takahashi鈥檚 location and status.
Not much, you might say, but at the same time we continued to make sex-offender research a priority 鈥� not textbook theory, but applied research that would help us understand why people commit these offences, how to prevent them, how to treat them, and yes, how some can be safely managed in the community.
We have knowledge and practices now that we didn鈥檛 have 25 years ago. We know, for example, that sex offenders are not a homogenous group, that they have different pathologies and different prognoses. We have much better risk-assessment tools that allow us to make those distinctions, and respond with different levels of treatment and control.
Many sex offenders are a very low risk to reoffend. Broad responses such as sex offender registries and 鈥渘o go鈥� zones have at best no positive effect and at worst only drive offenders underground, where no one can monitor their activities or where their risks of reoffending are actually increased.
We do ourselves a disservice by dismissing evidence-based responses and relying instead on myths and fear-mongering. The current prime minister has stated several times in recent months that he doesn鈥檛 care to know why sex offenders commit their crimes. Instead, he wants to continue the one-size-fits-all approach of more and more punishment.
Such a position is breath-taking in its disregard for public safety. Instead of implementing proven policies and programs, measures are taken that do nothing other than waste your hard-earned tax dollars. If you were required to put a hundred dollars cash in your garbage can every week, you would scream. And yet when that same weekly hundred dollars is spent on measures that have been demonstrated to be garbage, little fuss is heard.
Victoria鈥檚 reaction to Takahashi鈥檚 release is far from unusual. The same reaction might be expected in many, if not most, communities. But that doesn鈥檛 make it any less sad. When the next sex offender moves into Victoria tomorrow or next week, we have a responsibility to arm ourselves with knowledge and facts.
We have a right to ask our criminal-justice system authorities to act as a coherent system, and to help the community to both be and feel more secure. We have a right to demand that our political representatives stop legislating through empty slogans and start investing our money in what works. We have a right to demand that public servants be unmuzzled and allowed to explain release programs and halfway-house services, and to openly discuss the community鈥檚 concerns.
Anything less means d茅j脿 vu all over again.
Mary E. Campbell is the former director general of Corrections and Criminal Justice, Public Safety sa国际传媒.
