The Ford government is pledging to bring in legislation to change the province’s legal system to put an up-front price on freedom for people out on bail.
According to an Ontario government media release, “As a part of its ongoing work to protect Ontario communities, the Ontario government will soon introduce legislation that would require an accused person or their surety to provide a cash security deposit in the full amount ordered by the court. This initiative would improve bail compliance, keep violent, repeat offenders behind bars and make it easier for the province to collect forfeited bail payments when bail conditions are violated.”
Chatham-Kent Police Service Chief Kirk Earley calls it a positive move.
“This is a step in the right direction, for sure. Five per cent of our population commit 95 per cent of our crimes,” he said, adding local police can at times watch crime wax and wane based on who is or isn’t behind bars.
“We can see B&Es drop because we know someone’s in custody. When we see a spike (in those crimes), we check to see who was released,” he said. “For some of these individuals, that (break and enters) is their job essentially.”
Ontario’s Attorney General Doug Downey said the plan will target violent and repeat offenders.
“For too long, the broken bail system has allowed violent and repeat offenders back on our streets, putting innocent people at risk,” he said in a media release. “That’s why our government is taking action and delivering on our promise to fix the bail system by making bail more real and consequential for people accused of serious crimes. It’s the latest step in our work to keep our streets and communities safe.”
Early said something needed to be done.
“This is about protecting the families in the community, but also the (police) officers. There has to be some action taken against the violent offenders,” he said. “A lot of the community, I think, has lost trust in the justice system.”
He added, members of the public aren’t alone.
“I think our officers are just as frustrated when they arrest someone and they are out on bail shortly afterwards,” Earley said
As it stands today, if the court orders a person released on a promise to pay, no cash deposit is required. Justice officials said when someone violates release conditions, tracking down the dollars to pay for that violation can at times be challenging.
“This creates potential challenges related to the collection of forfeited bail payments, including time and resources that must be expended in order to collect payments,” the release stated.
Under the proposed new system, a cash security deposit in the full amount ordered by the court would be required once the accused person is released from custody.
If the accused person follows the terms of their release, the deposit would be returned when the case concludes or the surety’s obligations end.
If bail conditions are not met, the money would be automatically recovered upon being ordered forfeited by the court.
Earley said he wouldn’t be surprised, however, if some members of the public thought this was the case already.
“I think people watch a lot of TV and see the bail system in the U.S.,” he said. “I don’t see it (the province) going that far,” he said, referring to five-, six- and even seven-figure monetary conditions of being released on bail. “But it’s a good step. It helps build a little bit of trust back with the community if they start seeing results.”
