Court Watch Program
Our Court Watch program was created in conjunction with the VPD to identify Chronic Offenders (criminals causing the most societal harm by means of persistent offending) to formulate a response. Societal harm is defined in terms of victimization ranging from pure cost (money spent reacting to crime) to physical consequences (harm to the offender & to the public).
Identifying a core group that could be referred to as chronic offender is difficult. The following criteria are a guide in assessing candidates to be managed as a chronic offender:
- Property criminal with 12 or more charges in the past 12 months and/or
- Identified by the Operations Division as a significant property offender and/or
- Property criminal with a history of non-compliance with court orders
Once this group has been identified, these court hearings are forwarded to our CPC where our volunteers will attend to witness the case, judge’s decision and write up a report to forward to the VPD.
The objective of the program is to manage these offenders both in & out of custody. By working firstly with the operation police units to arrest offenders and secondly, the courts to obtain purposeful sentencing, the Chronic Offenders Program of the VPD ensures consistent pressure on the offender. The goal of the program is to incapacitate persistent offenders causing a reduction in overall crime.
If you would like to be involved in or to learn more about the Court Watch program please call 604 717-2935 or email chris@collingwoodcpc.com