- Vancouver's Downtown Community Court
- Prolific Offender Management Project
- Bail Reform Project
- Community Crime Prevention Pilots
Criminal Justice Reform Projects
Since 2007, the Ministry of Justice (formerly the ministries of Public Safety and Solicitor General, and Attorney General) and the Ministry of Children and Family Development (youth justice) have jointly taken a more integrated approach to criminal justice reform.
Pilot projects have been designed and implemented that aim to:
- bring crime down;
- manage prolific offenders more closely; and
- make the criminal justice process more timely and efficient.
Each pilot project will be evaluated and the results will guide decisions on the next phase of criminal justice reform.
Pilot projects were designed using an evidence-based approach. This involved looking to examples around the world that have proven successful in preventing or reducing crime and that could be adapted for B.C.
Pilot projects currently being led or evaluated include:
- Vancouver's Downtown Community Court, which takes a problem-solving approach to crime. It does so by addressing the underlying health and social problems that often lead to criminal behaviour, by responding in a timely manner and by involving the community;
- the prolific offender management pilot, which focuses on the 10 per cent of the offenders who commit 50 per cent of crimes;
- the bail reform project, which aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the current bail process;
- community crime prevention pilots, which seek to reduce the involvement of young people in crime by providing them social support, nurturing environments and other resources that keep them safe.
