I agree that it sucks that the crime of stealing someone's 10k bike goes essentially unpunished, but the person that stole it probably needs help a lot more than punishment. No matter which angle you come at it, if the ultimate goal is to reduce crime, you have to treat the symptoms - actually that makes for a poor analogy but the point is that crime is the byproduct of other more serious, systemic problems.
Most of Vancouver's property crime is committed by people looking for a quick buck so they can get a quick fix. If we address addiction properly, crime goes way down. And in many cases, addiction is related to mental health and our judicial system is woefully ill-equipped to help people, even in some cases where they're ready to accept it. So they end up back out on the street, no better off than they were before.
The frustration is real, and I totally get it. But if you've known someone that's struggled their way through the system with mental health and/or addiction, the frustration goes way beyond having a valuable bike stolen, and it's also down to life or death, not being without a beloved toy (insured) for a few days.
March 19, 2021, 8:30 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
I agree that it sucks that the crime of stealing someone's 10k bike goes essentially unpunished, but the person that stole it probably needs help a lot more than punishment. No matter which angle you come at it, if the ultimate goal is to reduce crime, you have to treat the symptoms - actually that makes for a poor analogy but the point is that crime is the byproduct of other more serious, systemic problems. Most of Vancouver's property crime is committed by people looking for a quick buck so they can get a quick fix. If we address addiction properly, crime goes way down. And in many cases, addiction is related to mental health and our judicial system is woefully ill-equipped to help people, even in some cases where they're ready to accept it. So they end up back out on the street, no better off than they were before. The frustration is real, and I totally get it. But if you've known someone that's struggled their way through the system with mental health and/or addiction, the frustration goes way beyond having a valuable bike stolen, and it's also down to life or death, not being without a beloved toy (insured) for a few days.