March 20, 2013
Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
Founded in 2005 in Scotland, this unit is attached to the police and co-directed by Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan and Karin McCluskey, a former police intelligence analyst. The tag for the unit is “Violence is preventable, not inevitable.” Carnochan is advocating early childhood care and education in response to unacceptable levels of violence. http://www.who.int/violenceprevention/about/participants/vru_scotland/en/index.html Call to Action Symposium – May, 2013 (Regina, SK) – 47 minute video with John Carnochan: “Violence is a public health issue.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-i7a_cwXTI
Federal Government Budget
Expenditure Analysis of Criminal Justice in Canada (March, 2013)
In the light of Thursday’s federal budget some may find it helpful to review the budgeted expenses on corrections and parole as seen by the Parliamentary Budget Office. As you may suspect, crime is down, costs are up. http://www.pbo-dpb.gc.ca/files/files/Crime_Cost_EN.pdf
North Shore News (BC) – Andy Prest
Criminal element
The article reviews the theory of the impact of lead in gasoline, its removal and the consequent reduction in crime rates because people are smarter and their behaviour improved once the lead was removed from gas and paint. http://www.nsnews.com/news/story.html?id=8111226
Courtney (BC) – Kate Greening
Restorative Justice Lecture in Courtenay – April 4
The Iona Campagnolo Lecture in Restorative Justice on Thursday, April 4th at 7:30 in the Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College. Guest lecturer is Barry Stuart, retired judge of the Yukon Territorial Court. Judge Stuart is a pioneer in the introduction of “Circle Sentencing”, with his landmark decision in Regina versus Moses which provided a key framework for the use of circles in sentencing offenders in Criminal Code matters. The title of his talk is “Rethinking Our Journey to Smart Justice” (Barry is also a founding member of Smart Justice Network.) http://www.cumberlandmatters.ca/news/34-news/246-restorative-justice-lecture-in-courtenay-april-4?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CumberlandMatters+%28Cumberland+Matters%29
RJBC Newsletter:
Restorative Justice in Yoga Circle
This session takes place on Bowen Island, April 28, 2013 from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Says facilitator / instructor Renata Cueto de Souza: “This is a process which involves increasing awareness through self-inquiry, reflection, investigation and re-evaluation of our concepts, beliefs and thought processes. http://www.rjbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/RestorativeYogainCircleFlyer-2013.pdf
Huffington Post Blogger Diane Weber Bederman
Treating Mental Illness Like Physical Illness Is the First Step to Change
Bederman sees fear driving the differentiation between how we treat the physically ill vs how we treat the mentally ill. She cites a number of people who think that Bill C-54 – the NCR bill – can not achieve its suggested goals. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/diane-bederman/not-criminally-responsible-bill_b_2895678.html
CBC News – Kathleen Harris
Inmate-release problems said to be jeopardizing public safety
Three party reps discuss the issue in an eleven minute Power and Politics report on an internal CSC audit of the release process and the protocols in place. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/03/19/pol-correctional-service-canada-prisoner-release.html