new b.c. model for repeat offenders is effective in reducing violent crimes, say observers
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criminologists are welcoming the province’s expansion of a program that brings together police, corrections officers, counsellors and health care workers to monitor and target repeat offenders.
they point to a december 2025 report by corrections british columbia that found it has been effective in reducing violent crime over its first two years of operation.
among the findings were that participants in the repeat violent offending intervention initiative had 48.6 per cent fewer negative police interactions in the 18 months after being admitted, compared to the 18 months before.
the crown also sought detention in 83.8 per cent of bail hearings involving those enrolled in the program, compared to 66.8 per cent in the control group, with people remaining in custody 75.4 per cent of the time.
clients in the program also spent 48 per cent of their time in custody, compared to 31.6 per cent of the time prior to entering.
evan mccuish, an associate professor at sfu and an expert on young violent and serious offenders, said the program is evidence-based and brings together a number of services to ensure those repeatedly engaging in crime are either given a helping hand or time behind bars.
but he isn’t ready to declare it a full success just yet.
“i don’t know if i would say that it’s like a definitive success, but definitely it looks promising,” said mccuish.
“there were some things within the report that maybe could have been done differently. it seemed like they lost quite a few of their participants. there were 500 people in the program, but it seemed like they only had data on around 250 of them.”
the report raised concerns about an increased risk of recidivism, with 73.9 per cent of those enrolled committing offences within six months after release, compared to 43.2 per cent of the control group.
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mccuish puts this down to increased monitoring of individuals in the program.
in late june public safety minister and solicitor general nina krieger announced a $16 million investment to set up 12 more teams of prosecutors, corrections officers, probation officers, and mental health professionals to monitor those who have been charged repeatedly with breaking and entering, breaking windows or vandalism.
the hubs will be located in chilliwack, courtenay, dawson creek, langley, maple ridge, penticton, surrey, victoria and two in vancouver.
nanaimo, kelowna and nelson already have pilot hubs.
krieger said that the positive findings gave the province the confidence to move ahead with an expansion into property crimes.
she said she is hearing from businesses about the need to prevent shoplifting, smashed windows and vandalism and police say it’s often a small number of individuals responsible for the majority of these crimes.
according to krieger, the program will bring together prosecutors, police, and probation officers to ensure they’re being monitored, and that they are connected to the corrective supports they need to break that cycle of reoffending.
through the violent offenders and the property offenders programs, the province says it is now monitoring 865 people, including 350 in the lower mainland.
rick parent, a retired criminology professor at sfu and former delta police officer, said he doesn’t believe the programs are going to reduce all the issues the province is facing with violent crime, but it’s a big step in the right direction.
like mccuish, he doesn’t see the recidivism numbers as a serious problem.
“i think overall, the program is effective because you’re reducing people from getting into this sort of cycle of either committing violent crimes or, in this case, thefts because they see that there’s some sort of deterrence going on,” said parent.
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“there’s accountability and responsibility, and those things have been lacking. it’s not going to catch or eliminate all of the issues, but it’s going to reduce a substantial amount. i think that’s the key here, trying to reduce as much as we can without over-punishing or going overboard in enforcement.”
the b.c. civil liberties association is concerned about the lack of bail being granted to people in the program, as well as the privacy concerns that arise from constant monitoring.
vibert jack, the bccla’s litigation director, says that he’d rather see the province deal with some of the upstream causes of crime, such as poverty and a lack of available housing as opposed to focusing on criminalization.
he also said that combining social workers and health care workers with policing breeds distrust among the people who need those services.
“address poverty, address the lack of housing, provide mental health treatment and addictions treatment, so that people don’t get to the place where they are repeatedly committing property crimes to address those issues themselves in a negative way,” said jack.
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