Ontario Takes Strong Action: Increased Efforts to Incarcerate Repeat Violent Offenders in Chatham-Kent

Province giving Chatham-Kent-Police Service more resources to monitor and enforce bail conditions.

NEWS | January 12, 2024

Chatham-Kent — The Ontario government is providing $1.2 million over a 3 year span ($400,000/year) to Chatham-Kent Police Service to help prevent repeat and violent offenders from committing serious crimes while out on bail. The funding is part of the province’s plan to help protect communities, support victims of crime and keep people safe.

“It is unacceptable for violet offenders to commit serious crimes while out on bail.” Says MPP Trevor Jones, Chatham-Kent-Leamington. “Our government strives to provide law enforcement with the necessary tools to track and apprehend those who violate their bail conditions, contributing to making Ontario one of the safest jurisdictions in Canada.”

Through the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension (BCWA) Grant program, the government is investing $24 million across the province to help establish dedicated bail compliance and/or warrant apprehension teams to monitor high-risk individuals. The funding is being delivered over three years and will also support new technology for a province-wide bail compliance monitoring system.

“It is unacceptable that repeat and violent offenders are committing serious crimes while out on bail,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “By giving police the tools, they need to track and arrest offenders who violate their bail conditions, our government is helping to ensure Ontario is one of the safest jurisdictions in Canada.”

The BCWA Grant is part of a $112 million investment to strengthen the province’s bail system and ensure repeat and violent offenders comply with their bail and court-ordered conditions. Other initiatives include:

The creation of a Bail Compliance Unit within the OPP’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad.
The establishment of Intensive Serious Violent Crime Bail Teams within the court system.
A new province-wide bail compliance dashboard to help monitor high-risk offenders with the most accurate data possible.

“The Chatham-Kent Police Service was tremendously pleased to receive such generous grant funding from the provincial government in respect to the Bail Compliance and Warrant Apprehension Grant.” Says, Chief Gary Conn, Chatham-Kent Police. “This funding will allow us to provide additional staff who will have the time, training, and resources to adequately educate, support and ultimately enforce bail conditions on persons that pose the highest risk of committing further criminal acts and pose a substantial risk to public safety. Finally, with these additional resources in place, this will further aid the vulnerable members of our community and prevent re-victimization. Clearly, the provincial government takes our issues seriously with increased training and grant funding, that ultimately correlates back to enhancing community safety and wellbeing.”

The BCWA Grant program will support 17 municipal police services, four First Nations police services and 12 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) services.

QUICK FACTS

Ontario is fighting auto theft by investing $51 million over three years to help police identify and dismantle organized crime networks and put thieves behind bars. This includes $18 million to support new and enhanced crime-fighting measures.
In November 2023, the Ontario government introduced the Enhancing Access to Justice Act, 2023 that will, if passed, make it easier for more victims of crime to sue an offender for emotional distress.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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MEDIA CONTACTS Nammar Cristofari Executive Assistant MPP Trevor Jones Nammar.cristofari@pc.ola.org	ontario.ca/newsroom Disponible en français