Column: Fear of crime getting stronger
Date: Oct 21, 2006 11:39 AM
PUBLICATION: The Daily News (Halifax)
DATE: 2006.10.20
SECTION: Perspective
PAGE: 21
BYLINE: Rick Howe
ILLUSTRATION: A SIGHT TOO COMMON: Police officers block off street in
Dartmouth last month after shots were reportedly fired.
WORD COUNT: 673

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Fear of crime getting stronger

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Fear permeates a picturesque Cape Breton village. The 1,000 or so people
living in and around Ingonish should be enjoying the spectacular fall
foliage now in full colour. But they’ve got a problem on their hands.
John Donovan is coming home.

The 41-year-old Donovan is being released from federal prison today
after serving the full length of a nine-year sentence for sexual
assault. There was no parole for this guy – that’s how mean a dude he
is. Police say he’s been professionally assessed as a high risk to
reoffend, and do so violently.

“Bad news,” one local told CTV this week, “Just bad news.”

Public warning

Bad enough that the RCMP issued a public warning this week. “Donovan has
demonstrated a propensity to use violence, lack of empathy, refusal to
participate in programming and presents a high risk to re-offend
violently and sexually,” the Mounties cautioned.

Police will today seek a peace bond restricting Donovan’s movements as
he moves back into the community. But a piece of paper will do little to
put people’s minds at ease. And a lot of good it will do for the person
who could be his next victim.

The Donovan case is one of several highlighting the concerns many Nova
Scotians have about crime, and how ineffective the justice system has
been in dealing with it.

Two men in positions of authority and trust over children – one a
vice-principal, the other a swim- team coach – are sentenced to house
arrest on child-pornography charges. Such convictions should have
resulted in automatic jail time.

Halifax police try to assure residents anxious about a spate of murders,
shootings and firebombings that these are not random acts, but one group
fighting another in what seems to be a drug-trade turf war. Those
assurances will do little to ease the pain of a family’s loss if an
innocent bystander is caught in the middle of the mayhem.

It’s time to make some arrests.

We are also bombarded daily in Nova Scotia with accounts of young people
involved in crimes ranging from vandalizing cemeteries to plotting to
kill students during classes.

A 14-year-old faces charges for inciting two other teens to murder
schoolmates. Two teens, 14 and 15, are arrested on car-theft charges at
about 2:30 one recent weekday morning. And this on a school night!
Another young lad is in court for the sixth time in a month to face
car-theft charges.

The justice system and governments have failed to respond to this
onslaught of kids who have no fear for the repercussions of their
actions because of a weak Youth Criminal Justice Act

Take, for example, the swarmings that plague many areas of HRM. In some
neighbourhoods, residents are afraid to walk alone even during daylight
hours. Two teens – one 14, the other 16 – this week were given six
months’ deferred custody and a year’s probation for their role in a
series of Dartmouth swarmings last winter.

One man was stabbed so badly, he required surgery to remove a piece of
his lung. Another was robbed and stabbed in the back.

And for such crimes, the two accused got six months deferred custody!
What is that – pretend jail?

One victim wondered how such a sentence will deter other swarmings.

It won’t.

Not alone

We are not alone in dealing with escalating youth crime. Imagine the
shock of Winnipegers this week who learned of two horrific incidents
involving children younger than 12. In one, a young girl was doused with
a flammable liquid and set on fire. In another, a young boy was locked
in a shed, which was then set ablaze.

Most of those involved will not face charges because children younger
than 12 cannot be charged with a criminal offence in Canada.

The Harper government has promised it will get tough on crime. Faced
with declining public support over Afghanistan and the environment, a
law-and-order agenda may be the Tories’ only hope.

The three-strikes legislation for repeat violent offenders introduced
this week is one positive step. But major reforms are needed and bold
leadership required before regular folks like those in Ingonish can
enjoy the beauty of their environment, free of the crime concerns facing
all of us these troubled days.

Rick Howe is the host of the radio talk show Hotline, weekdays from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. on 92 CJCH, and on the web at cjch.ca.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !