A meeting with the Ministry of Justice held in Williams Lake Monday determined agencies that deal with prolific offenders and crime in general need to work together more, said Mayor Walt Cobb.
“Whether it be mental health, social services, Crown Counsel, RCMP, etc. the immediate plan will be to identify those agencies, pull them together and deal with the second phase which will be prolific offender management,” Cobb said of the outcome of Monday’s meeting.
Representatives from the Ministry of Justice were in Williams Lake following up on a Blue Ribbon Panel on Crime Prevention meeting that took place in Williams Lake in 2014 and the recommendations coming out of the panel’s initial report.
Cobb said the meeting comes on the heels of some efforts locally to address problems of crime and prolific offenders.
In the last year there have been some community meetings organized by Erin and Pat Graham to talk about crime in Williams Lake and in September mayor and council met with officials from the Ministry of Justice at the Union of BC Municipalities in September.
“With direction from the ministry staff and the Premier, these different departments will be mandated to participate with this crime reduction strategy taking place, Cobb said, noting the crime reduction strategy is all inclusive with First Nations communities outside of Williams Lake working with the city.
The terms of reference that emerge locally for a crime reduction strategy could set the stage for other communities across the province, Cobb said, adding the Ministry of Justice representatives plan to return to Williams Lake in about 10 days to put a framework in place for early January 2016.