Some recent convictions and sentences in Williams Lake have councillor Scott Nelson calling for change.
Darcy William was found guilty of possession of a weapon for dangerous in relation to a firearm being discharged in a local bar. He received 50 days in jail and a 12-month probation order.
Nelson said that charge, along with many others handed out, is unacceptable.
“I think the City has been extraordinarily proactive. We’ve asked the crown, we’ve written to the judges; we would like to see prolific offenders with GPS electronic monitoring 24/7,” he said. “We don’t believe people that have two to three hundred charges should be released back into the community and put on conditions. We need to make sure these people are watched 24/7. They have simply lost their rights inside of a community. They are prolific offenders, they’re community terrorists. They are trying to put fear into residents, and we simply won’t tolerate it any longer.”
Nelson said that communities and residents are getting so concerned they are setting up their own watch groups to help out the RCMP.
“We are seeing a lot of other communities outside of Williams Lake, close to Williams Lake, like McLeese Lake. They have a number of prolific offenders in their area creating absolute havoc, and as a group, as citizens, as neighbours, they form a group of 100 to put more eyes on the street,” he said. ‘Watch their friends, family, neighbours, and that’s important. At the very end of the day, crown and the judges are soft on criminals.”‘
“The crown and the courts have awoken the sleeping giant, and that’s the communities are saying no more. They are banding together, and they are pointing their figures at the crown and the judges and asking for accountability,” Nelson said. “The crown and the judges not only have a responsibility to protect not only the individuals but protect communities.”
Nelson added that the feels he courts and the judges have given free passes to the criminals across British Columbia.