Government Plans: Crime Reduction

The Ministry of Justice continues to tackle the issues germane to its mandate with particular focus on the delivery of legal services, administration of the penal system, crime reduction, alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation of offenders and breaking the cycle of recidivism.

The challenges of this demanding mandate are compounded by tightening fiscal austerity measures aimed at ensuring the sustainability of services crucial to the integrity of the justice system.

The Ministry of Justice measures articulated by His Excellency in the Speech from the Throne, reflect policy objectives which acknowledge that criminal activity remains an overwhelming concern of Bermudians.

Thus, our response is critical and is crafted with an appreciation of the minimum requirement our society needs to maintain the level of security and respectability for which Bermuda is known and that its people have a right to expect.

Targeted measures to protect the public from violent and dangerous offenders, which are directly related to our parole and sentencing regimes, are necessary and have been developed for implementation. Such measures will include, where necessary, amendments to the Criminal Code.

With respect to parole, effective collaboration between Departments within the Ministry and across Government exists to address matters related to reports, interface issues, legislation, communication and planning. In particular, tri-partied meetings resumed in September with the Commissioner of Corrections, the Director of Court Services and the Chairman of the Parole Board.

Whilst increased collaboration will strengthen the administration of the parole regime, legislative reform is necessary to realize our commitment to rehabilitate offenders.

This unwavering commitment is reflected in existing inmate rehabilitation programs to address issues such as anger management, violent offenders, drug education, GED certification, sex offenders, life skills, parenting skills, money management, woodwork, auto bodywork and religious studies.

To further these efforts legislatively, proposed amendments to the law will include the requirement for inmates, depending on the length of their sentence, to serve a minimum of 12 months before becoming eligible for parole, to allow time for participation in rehabilitation programmes. In addition, consideration is also being given to revising the minimum time served for life sentences before parole. Policy development and research in this regard is ongoing.

Electronic Monitoring of offenders has been under consideration by Government for some time as a valuable tool to enhance public safety and offender rehabilitation. Whereas fiscal consideration has been a primary concern, available funds were recently confirmed via the Confiscated Assets Fund to afford the opportunity to launch the initiative. A contract to begin the 1 year pilot project was entered into between the Government and Bermuda Security Group in October, 2011.

In addition to persons on police bail for firearms offences, consideration is being given to extend electronic monitoring to persons on bail, parole and probation. The potential benefits of this initiative are behavior modification of offenders, intelligence gathering and enhanced public safety.

The implementation phase of the project is currently in progress.With respect to our young people, in an effort to afford them the opportunity to realize their potential and to avoid unnecessary criminalization which may impede their future success, a new sentencing framework for young people, including the establishment of a new classification of sanctions related to different types of drugs will be developed.

This framework will be carefully crafted to augment existing provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, referred to as PACE, by formulating policy to strike the right balance between effective deterrence and the avoidance of unnecessary incarceration.

To this end, the feasibility of further necessary legislative change will be examined along with cross-departmental internal policy collaboration between prosecution and law enforcement.

This in turn will continue to ensure that the right message is delivered to our young people that narcotic use has harmful consequences and is condemnable. At the same time, our society will ensure that it does not compound those consequences for all of us by a miscalibration between the degree of illegal usage and the penalty meted out.

In addition, the Department of Court Services has made policy proposals to revise the Young Offenders Act 1950 in order to provide consistency with other legislation related to children and young people. Such legislation will also establish compulsory comprehensive assessments and facilitate the implementation of innovative and culturally sound restorative justice programmes and services to deter young people from the criminal justice system.

This policy is also under review with a view to undertaking feasible reform in the upcoming legislative session to ensure legislative consistency; and most importantly to ensure that Bermuda’s youths who run afoul of the law are given the best opportunity to steer clear of the path of crime.

The broad aim of these measures is to reduce the prison population, decrease criminalization and recidivism and further ensure that the emphasis for specified infractions shifts from a punitive approach to achieving voluntary compliance.

In Bermuda, we are seeing the impact of persons suffering from mental illnesses at all levels and in all spectrums of the community, many of whom have become well known and end up in the criminal justice system as their treatment needs are not met.

Policy proposals have been made by the Department of Court Services in consultation with the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI) to more holistically and systemically deal with offenders with mental health challenges. A review of the mental health system was conducted some time ago by the Ministry of Health with respect to the establishment of a mental health treatment court programme in Bermuda.

This proposal was referenced as a means of decriminalizing and appropriately treating mentally ill offenders. It is vital that all areas related to the treatment of the mentally ill – programmes, legislation and treatment interventions, are advanced simultaneously to maximize effectiveness. Consequently, the Mental Health Treatment Court Programme was designed to give triage services in the community in lieu of prosecutions and incarceration.

Its primary function is to limit the incidence of recidivism amongst the identified mental health offender population, and to identify any arrested individuals who could be referred to the Programme for earliest intervention. This emphasis has been a departure from the usual revolving door scenario of mental health offenders. Under the Mental Health Programme, they will have the opportunity to become a part of the treatment continuum, as opposed to victims of the judicial and institutional programs including Corrections.

Sexual offenders and the special challenges they pose to society as to rehabilitation and reintegration deserves corresponding attention to policy development to meet these challenges. The Ministry’s responsibility in this regard includes institutional treatment while offenders are incarcerated as well as post-incarceration measures to prevent further offences.

The resources within the system will be marshaled accordingly to obtain expert advice and researched information to ensure best practices and effective institutional strategies when dealing with such offenders.

On this front, electronic monitoring also has special significance as to its prospects for being utilized as an effective tool for 24 hour monitoring of the movements and whereabouts of sexual offenders on parole and probation. The offender register regime will also be reviewed to further ensure that the purposes for which it is intended are being served.

The ultimate policy objective is to ensure that the necessary legislative instruments and administrative policies are in place to maximize rehabilitation and minimize recidivism for sexual offenders whilst ensuring public safety.

The Ministry of Justice continues to build on the legislative and administrative framework that underpins our mandate and operations.

We move forward with the knowledge that we must adopt a proactive and considered approach to the identification, development and implementation of measures to address criminal activity, ever mindful of both the constitutional rights of individual citizens and the responsibility of the Government to uphold the fair and proper administration of justice whilst ensuring public safety.

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