This letter is in response to the article written about the Alberta Bail Review report which was created in lieu of the shooting death of RCMP Const. Wynn last year.
The article in the Gazette summarizes the main points of the Alberta Bail Review report. The main conclusion of this report is that police officers should not be running the bail hearings and instead it should be a trained Crown Prosecutor who runs the bail hearings. This makes it sound like police officers are the ones responsible for releasing violent offenders who create further havoc on society. This is not the case.
The public needs to know that it is the Justice of the Peace who releases an accused after a bail hearing. The police officers read the summary of the offence alleged and provide a summary of the accused criminal history. Police officers do not want violent criminals released into society. They are trying to send these criminals to prison, however it is the Justice of the Peace who makes the decision whether to keep an accused in custody or release them.
Crown Prosecutors do have a higher knowledge of criminal law but police officers know these criminals and know first hand how dangerous they are. The Alberta Bail Review report scapegoats police officers in a problem that has to do with the leniency in our justice system.
Josh Maeda, St. Albert
