Editor:
I would like to commend Vancouver Police Dsepartment Chief Jim Chu for his candor, concerning the lack of charges laid here as opposed to those laid in the U.K.
My only criticism is that he did not expand sufficiently to lay blame where it rightfully belongs.
The difference, as pointed out, between Vancouver and London is that we have Pierre Trudeau’s Charter of Rights, while Britain works on the criminal system that we used prior to the Charter of 1982.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with that system and, in fact, the majority of citizens felt safer then than they do now. In fact, police here used to lay charges the same as has been done in London.
After the charter introduction, accountability for virtually everything was foisted on the police rather than the offending individuals.
The bringing of the administration of justice into disrepute has already been accomplished by the judiciary themselves.
In Canada, many or most lawyers have been made wealthy since 1982 dealing with ancillary detail, rather than substance, with respect to criminal matters.
At the same time, victims have been neglected, belittled and retaliated against for identifying criminals and their behaviour. At the same time, criminals have been treated with kid gloves, so as not to correct their errant behaviour.
Small wonder that fewer victims of crime come forward.
In essence, do not blame the police – or in this case the lack of their presence in numbers – for the actions of those who have been coddled and not punished adequately for their behaviour, but rather, examine the fundamental cause of the behaviour of the miscreants themselves.
For every charter “right” that these folks have, there are far more responsibilities that they fail to recognize.
Jim Simpson, Surrey