Family Law Promotes Crime

May 22, 2007 permalink

Readers of this site know that excessive child protection contributes to crime because of the damage it does to children. There is another way — the large number of cops required for courtroom security reduces the ability to control common crime. The Norris case contained an example. On June 29, 2006 police overstaffed the family court hearing for Cathy Norris. In another courtroom understaffed police were unable to keep the peace in the homicide case against Steven Steacy.

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May 21, 2007

Chief's budget woes

Court security drains force

By SHARON LEM, SUN MEDIA

Providing officers for court security is taking too many cops off the streets, Durham Region's chief of police says.

The $6 million spent to provide daily security for provincial and federal courthouses -- an amount that doesn't include extra security for high-risk cases -- needs to be paid for by the province, Vern White said.

"Court security costs and prisoner counts are absolutely not sustainable, and security decisions have not been based on realistic risk assessments," said White, who implements the security plan.

"We've been providing officers based on what the court and judges are asking for when we should have been basing it on risk assessment.

"I spent the equivalent of 58 officers to supply to the courts when I should have put those 58 officers on the streets to deal with our increased youth crime and gangs," he said.

PROVINCE SHOULD PAY

White doesn't think court security should come from the police service's budget.

"We don't own the building, the province runs the courts and they should take responsibility for court security costs and pay for it instead of downloading that cost onto us," he said.

White said most of the $6 million goes to the wages of police officers and civilian special constables, who protect court participants and take prisoners to and from holding cells.

"Staffing metal detectors and providing armed officers to guard small claims courts are not core police security functions," White said.

He noted that British Columbia's and Alberta's provincial governments pay for their own court security costs.

In 2005, the service handled 14,286 prisoners. That rose to 18,324 in 2006. The numbers are up 25% for the first quarter of 2007.

Source: Toronto Sun