Arrests are ‘futile’ to curb crime, B.C.’s attorney general says

More arrests are 'futile,' British Columbia's attorney general says as he rebuffed criticism of government policies on repeat offenders and violent crime across the province.

More arrests are “futile,” British Columbia’s attorney general says as he rebuffed criticism of government policies on repeat offenders and violent crime across the province.

Murray Rankin told the legislature on Tuesday that increasing arrests is not the answer to battle crime.

His statement comes despite a recent government-commissioned report citing police and probation officers saying repeat offenders “are emboldened to continue offending, deteriorating community confidence in the justice system.”

The minister said the New Democrat government is focused on resolving the issue of violent crime, but concentrating only on arresting more people won’t work.

“We are committed to ending the cycle of reoffending and keeping people from becoming offenders in the first place,” Rankin said. “Simply arresting people out of the situation we know is going to be futile. We need to do so much more and that is what we’re doing.”

He said the government is considering a range of options to keep people safe, including consulting widely with communities, law enforcement officials and mental health and addictions service providers.

Rankin said placing people under arrest for alleged crimes is part of the justice process, but not the primary function of the system.

“It’s a necessary but not sufficient response to a problem that’s extraordinarily complex,” he said.