News From the BCCJA Board
West Coast Policing
In case you were wondering the BCCJA Board Officers are:
- Tim Veresh – President
- Barb Van Vugt– Vice-President
- Bill Turner – Treasurer
- Chris Thompson – Past President
Plans are afoot for the presentation of public forums in the lower mainland this fall. Please watch the BCCJA website for more information.
The Board’s work to reshape the association to enable greater involvement of our members has moved closer to fruition with the establishment of the Lower Mainland affiliate. Again watch our web space for updates.
Our Island affiliate, the Vancouver Island Criminal Justice Association (VICJA) members are back sponsoring another year of public forums on criminal and social justice issues. And work is under way to co-sponsor, with the Salvation Army-Victoria ARC, and John Howard-Victoria , a one day public/professional forum titled “Public Safety, Compassion and Community Integration: Meting the Needs of All”. The forum is scheduled for February 03, 2017 and will have Dr. Gabor Mate as the principal speaker.
Check the BCCJA website for updates and details: www.bccja.com/vicja
Newsletter Summary of Contents
| Oh Canada (4 items) | Mental Health (2 items) |
| Criminal Justice Policy (5 items) | Sexual Offenders (1 items) |
| Criminal Justice System (6 items) | Addiction (5 items) |
| The Law and Courts (5 items) | Women and the Criminal Justice System (2 items) |
| Law Enforcement (5 items) | Forensic-Tech-Science (items) |
| Children and Youth (2 items) | International News (3 items) |
| Corrections and Community (4 items) | Related Interest (2 items) |
| Criminal Behaviour (1 item) | National Security (2 Items) |
| Victims of Crime (3 items) | Did You Know? (5 Items) |
Upcoming Events
Canadian Conference on Promoting Healthy Relationships for Youth: Breaking Down the Silos in Addressing Mental Health & Violence
February 15 – 17, 2017
London Ontario Convention Centre
Crime Prevention Week: Crime Prevention Week
This is an annual event, taking place November 1 – 7, raising awareness to what community members can do to create safer communities across British Columbia. Learn More
Police Victim Services BC 2016 Symposium
PowerPoint Presentation Slide Decks PowerPoint
Américain Parole and Probation Association
APPA Annual Training Institute 2017
International Track – New York City
The 41st Annual Training Institute ended recently in Cleveland. A great success with 1,272 registrants. Next year the 42nd Annual Training Institute will be held in New York from August 27th to the 30th. Keep an eye on developments and other APPA activities at the following site:
APPA http://www.appa-net.org/eweb/
During deliberations at the association’s meetings in Cleveland support was received for including an international track as part of the 2017 program. It is anticipated that the “call for presenters” announcement will be on the association’s website in October with a submission deadline of January 2017.
Please give this opportunity serious consideration. If further information, clarification or assistance is required please contact R.E. Bob Brown brown.reb@shaw.ca
Oh Canada
The Mounties’ New Hijabs
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police recently gave official permission to female officers to wear hijabs. Read Article
Canadian Jurist Louise Arbour Wins 2016 Tang Prize in Rule of Law
The Tang prize is an international award founded in 2012 by Taiwanese billionaire and philanthropist Samuel Yin, who says he was inspired in part by the Nobel Prize. Story
Canadian Bar Association’s BC Branch Honours Top Lawyers
Recipients of this year’s Bar Awards honouring outstanding lawyers and an inventive organizations are announced. Article
Calgary Constable Recipient of National Youth Justice Policing Award
Constable recognized for his work with indigenous youth. Read Store
Criminal Justice Policy
Sixth BC Justice Summit
Sixth BC Justice Summit held on June 10th and 11th 2016, focused on “Justice, Mental Health and Substance Use.” Full Report
Canada Should ‘Tighten Up Tablet Press Controls’
The Canadian government should tighten up controls on the importation and sale of tablet presses in order to help crack down on the trade in counterfeit painkillers, say police. Article
Make Algorithms Accountable
Article
How Prostitution Laws Work in Sweden and Germany and What Canada Can Learn
Video
Criminal Justice at the Front End
Read Article
Criminal Justice System
Think Tank Releases Report Card on Canada’s Justice System
Read Report.
How Prostitution Laws Work in Sweden and Germany and What Canada Can Learn
The Early Edition discusses perspectives on prostitution laws Audio
The Animal in You: Animalistic Descriptions of a Violent Crime Increase Punishment of Perpetrator
This article discuss the impact of a violent crime being described in an animalistic versus a non-animalistic way. Abstract
Ian Mulgrew: Do ‘Specialized Courts’ Have Real purpose, Or Are They Just Well-meaning Band-Aids?
Opinion
In Downtown Eastside, Jim’s Story Shows Holes in Vast Net of Systems and Services: A Tyee Series
Follow Series
Law and Courts
Sentencing that started in Revelstoke ruled on by Supreme Court of Canada BC Read Story
British Columbia civil rights group punches above its weight in national legal disputes Article
Canadian Court Says No Expectation Of Privacy In SMS Messages Residing On Someone Else’s Phone Read Article
First prominent case testing Canada’s new cyberbullying law begins Read Story
Prosecutor says FedEx ignored drug warning Read Story
Law Enforcement
Canada’s efforts to deny safe haven to war criminals wane JP
Internal evaluation finds diminishing resources a factor, and identifies trend to using immigration law to remove war criminals from Canada, not prosecute them or revoke their citizenship. Read Article
Canadian Law Enforcement Admit — And Then Deny — They Own A Stingray Device Read Story
Facial Recognition Solution Lets Users Report Crime, Share Surveillance Data Read Article
Predictive policing practices labeled as ‘flawed’ by civil rights coalition Read Story
5 Ways Technology Can Boost Campus Security
From apps to wireless access controls, digital solutions help colleges get safer. Read Article
Children & Youth
Sarah Leamon: Very Young Offenders Need Help Sooner Rather Than Later
Read this Opinion piece.
Lord McNally Speech
Lord McNally, Chairman of the Youth Justice Board (YJB), speaks at the Criminal Justice Management 2016 conference in London. Speech
Corrections and Community
A BC Auditor General progress audit looks at whether or not the B.C. Community Corrections Division has fairly and accurately represented its progress against select recommendations made in the Effectiveness of B.C. Community Corrections audit, originally published in December 2011. PDF
Probation and the Limits of Criminal Justice Abstract
Dangerous offender’s escape raises questions about security, effectiveness of healing lodges Read Article
An inside look at the Workings of a Private Prison in the USA Read Story
First Step in Shutting Private Prisons Read Article
Restorative Justice
BC Educators to bring Restorative Justice to the classroom Read Story
When Prison Is Not the Answer
At the Orange County Community Court, social services are combined with criminal justice. Article
Making it Right: Building Peace, Settling Conflict
In her latest book, Vancouver author Marilee Peters looks closely at the concept of restorative justice. Article
Developing alternative understandings of security and justice through restorative justice approaches in intercultural settings within democratic societies Read Article
Criminal Behaviour
The 5-Step Approach to Evaluation Designing and Evaluating Interventions to Reduce Reoffending PDF
Victims of Crime
Nine things to know about the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women Read Article
Breaking barriers for survivors of domestic violence: The Alberta government has taken a step in the right direction in helping to protect victims of domestic violence Read Story
What Crime Victims Really Think About Prison Sentences Read Article
Mental Health
Stop Blaming Mental illness for Violent Crimes
Mental health problems are often blamed for violent crimes, but this is often just a deflection based on needless prejudice Read Story
Mental Illness, the Scapegoat of Violent Acts in Media Read Story
Sexual Offenders
Will brain science change criminal law?
“In all likelihood, the brain is a causal machine, in the sense that it goes from state to state as a function of antecedent conditions. The implications of this for criminal law are absolutely nil. For one thing, all mammals and birds have circuitry for self-control, which is modified through reinforcement learning (being rewarded for making good choices), especially in a social context. Criminal law is also about public safety and welfare. Even if we could identify circuitry unique to serial child rapists, for example, they could not just be allowed to go free, because they would be apt to repeat. Were we to conclude, regarding, say, Boston priest John Geoghan, who molested some 130 children, ‘It’s not his fault he has that brain, so let him go home,’ the result would undoubtedly be vigilante justice. And when rough justice takes the place of a criminal justice system rooted in years of making fair-minded law, things get very ugly very quickly.”
—Patricia Churchland, professor of philosophy and neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego
Addiction
Experts question Health Canada claims over W-18 drug
Canada made substance illegal June 1; experts call for more research into chemical behaviour and potency Read Article
What Science Says To Do If Your Loved One Has An Opioid Addiction Article
Study uses geo-mapping to identify ‘hot spots’ for use of fentanyl and other opiates Article
New drug target could prevent tolerance and addiction to opioids, study finds Article
It’s time to stop criminalizing a medical issue. Opinion
Women and the Criminal Justice System
Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.
Margaret Atwood
New sex-assault trial ordered after a fourth Alberta judge rebuked Read Story
“An Act of Solidarity”
These women are using drones to defy Northern Ireland’s draconian anti-abortion laws Read Article
Forensic – Tech – Science
The White House’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology concluded in a report released Tuesday that widely used forensic techniques used in criminal trials in the nation’s legal system might not be scientifically valid. Report
Fingerprint forensics has a future despite new technology and the folly of humans Read Article
The discovery that many genes are still working up to 48 hours after death has implications for organ transplants, forensics and our very definition of death Read Article
Can big data and AI fix our criminal-justice crisis? Body cameras and complex algorithms have a lot of potential — and political baggage. Read Article
National Security
Public Safety Canada calls for Submissions on New National Cybersecurity Strategy Read Article
Discipline cases in Canada spy agency hit peak in 2015 – govt data Read Story
International News
Anti-money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Report
A new report by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force finds “Canada’s open and stable economy an accessible financial system” makes it vulnerable to money laundering. Read Story Report
Britain to Open Refuges to Support Child Victims of Sexual Abuse
Child houses inspired by Icelandic scheme will tackle ‘public health emergency’ of abuse and offer young people expert care Read Story
60 Experts to help police deal with women crime victims in Delhi Read Article
Related Interest
Workers Without Borders: Immigration and Canada’s Economy
Read this Calgary Herald Special Six-Part Report
Ever wonder how money laundering schemes work?
Here’s one variant described as the ”Russian Laundromat”
Did You Know?
Forensic Analysis of Pigtails to help Identify Original ‘Mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty’
Read Article
Inside the South African Police Service’s Forensics Lab
Read story
Drone Laws and Privacy in Canada
Read Article
Canada’s Animal Cruelty Shame
This Article discusses loopholes in animal cruelty law.
Making a Killing : The business and politics of selling guns in the United States
Read Story about the gun business in the US
BCCJA Newsletters 