In February 2002, Hopkins was 36 years old and already had a long criminal record fueled by addiction to heroin and cocaine. He pleaded with the judge to sentence him to three years in prison. Hopkins said he knew the system, he knew the law and he knew an “unfortunate, stinking 27 months” wasn’t enough to get him the programs he needed to deal with the fact that he was “very angry at the world.” “I want to deal with my anger issues. These are things I can’t deal with in 27 months. And if everybody expects me to get out of prison and start dealing with them, they’re sadly mistaken,” Hopkins told the judge . “I’ll be back in front of you within a month of being released, looking at maybe a life sentence, because I haven’t been able to get the help I think I need.” He was right.
“The system is not broken,” insists the assistant deputy AG
Fast forward to 2022 and Hopkins has 117 convictions under his belt, most recently for possession of stolen property. A Court of Appeal decision described him as a “multi-generational” offender – the kind of person who commits a huge scale of crime which is currently testing the tolerance of KH communities. A small number of prolific offenders commit a large number of crimes in BC communities. The UK has come up with a definition that includes more than 16 convictions for adults, with at least eight imposed after the age of 21. (Gian-Paolo Mendoza/CBC) Their offenses range from theft to murder. They routinely violate probation. Driven by addiction and mental illness, many are a small but significant part of the homeless population. The scale of the problem has clearly worsened during the pandemic, prompting the BC Urban Mayors Caucus to call on Attorney General David Eby for action in what they call a “catch-and-release cycle of justice.” Last week, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Peter Zook responded to complaints about the justice system’s apparent failure to keep repeat offenders off the streets. “The system is not broken,” Juke said in a written statement, detailing the role of federal law and the Supreme Court of Canada in forcing judges and police to ensure that bail “is the rule and pretrial detention is the exception.” . Juk said he welcomes “public scrutiny, informed debate and reasoned debate” — warning against “uninformed or inaccurate public statements.” But can people really be blamed for demanding action from a justice system they’re told they don’t really understand?
“There must be consequences for behavior”
The province has announced an investigation team, led by a former deputy police chief and a health researcher, which will, in part, determine exactly what constitutes a prolific offender. Their report has already been delayed once due to the “complexity” of the issue. University of the Fraser Valley criminologist Darryl Plekas says there are already plenty of investigations. Graffiti and vandalism have tested the patience of business owners and residents in neighborhoods like Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Ben Nelms/CBC) The UK, for example, has defined three categories of productive offenders:
minor, aged 10-17, with at least four convictions or reservations; young adult, with eight or more convictions or cautions, including at least four arrested between the ages of 18 and 21; and adults, with 16 or more convictions, of which at least eight occur over the age of 21.
The Canadian Criminal Code does not classify offenders as “productive” – meaning their crimes are considered individually, not as a whole. Plecas, the former Liberal MLA and Speaker of the House, says this approach gives a skewed “isolated” view of a scheme that deserves serious scrutiny – and appropriate punishment. “It doesn’t pay enough attention to the fact that it’s not just about this single offense, it’s the fact that this person is involved in a pattern of criminality that involves a collection of crimes over a short period of time,” he says. . Plecas says we already know how to handle prolific offenders: much like Roy Gene Hopkins suggested 20 years ago, with prison sentences long enough to actually change people. “There have to be consequences for behavior,” says Plecas. “And I think it’s a fair comment to say that one of the things that’s been lost in our system is the whole idea of consequences.”
“Respect for the average citizen”
Plecas points to the low recidivism rates of inmates who leave Canada’s federal system after serving at least two years as evidence that the strong intervention is working. He says the point isn’t to throw people in jail — but instead to use jail and probation to make a lasting difference. Criminologist Darryl Plecas says courts should recognize the totality of a productive crime with stiffer penalties. (David Horemans/CBC) “We don’t want anyone to go through that revolving door,” says Plecas. “But for some reason we still think that if we send someone to jail for a day or a week, the person will walk out of there and say, ‘I’m a different person, I’m never going to commit a crime again.’ “” Plekas says he doesn’t blame the public for the disappointment. “At some point, we have to say, while we have the greatest concern for prolific offenders, we also have to respect the average citizen and the average businessman,” Plekas says. “They have their rights too.”
“Compassion Fatigue”
Simon Fraser University (SFU) health sciences professor Julian Somers says “compassion fatigue” is real, a frustration first reported by police and first responders and now “extending to people running businesses and members of wider audience”. Like Plecas, the clinical psychologist says there are reams of data about prolific offenders who are a subset of a larger population of people dealing with addictions, mental illness and street homelessness. Paramedics and first responders work to save a person suspected of drug overdose. Addressing drug addiction is a key component of a model SFU researchers have put forward that they believe will help curb prolific offenders. (Ben Nelms/CBC) SFU has been working with the government since 2005 to collect information about the provincial health and social services history of anyone passing through provincial prisons. Somers says the information helped pilot a program proven to reduce crime levels by getting people into homes, away from drugs and away from other people with the same problems. He says participants are motivated by seeing their children, trying to improve, and by the promise of some service in their lives. On the face of it, it’s an approach that might seem at odds with Plecas’ call for significant prison sentences, but Somers says the key is to intervene before offenders reach the productive stage — and both men say the solution is finally out there in some form of coercion used to break cycles of addiction and violence. In July 2021, SFU researchers presented their proposals in a detailed “call to action” to Eby and Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson — but Somers says they were met with “radio silence.” Instead, he received a letter ordering him to destroy the database his researchers have compiled over the past 17 years in favor of a new provincial data analysis program established in 2018 that is said to be “broader in scope.”
“Addressing demand, not supply”
Somers says the SFU approach runs counter to housing strategies that take homeless people off the street but keep them close to each other and still using drugs, albeit in safer environments. “What it would do is essentially brand people who are being helped by putting everyone together in big buildings where they have no support to do anything other than what they’re already doing, other than where they are,” he says. . Somers believes the current emphasis on so-called safe drug supply will do little to tackle the problem of prolific offenders – instead allowing addictions to fuel their bad behaviour. “The problem, according to our leaders, is the supply of toxic drugs – once again missing the point, just as the ‘war on drugs’ did, that the real problem and area of opportunity is dealing with demand , not of the offer. ” He says. As for Roy Gene Hopkins, as of last spring, he was in the middle of a two-year-less-a-day sentence for driving a stolen truck while banned. It will be out soon. But will he have learned from his last stint behind bars? Consider the response he gave police — according to court documents — when told the reasons for his latest arrest: “Whatever, yeah, big deal.”
