B.C. program targeting repeat violent offenders receives funding boost

The B.C. government has announced more funding in hopes of arresting more repeat violent offenders.

Public Safety Minister Gary Begg says the provincial government is boosting funding for a policing program launched in 2023, claiming the initiative led to more than 2,600 criminal charges with a focus on repeat violent offenders.

Begg said at a news conference in Surrey Friday that the province is adding another $6 million to the Special Investigation and Targeted Enforcement program, originally launched as a pilot project.

Begg said the program has supported nearly 150 investigations in dozens of communities, leading to “substantial” seizures of weapons, drugs and stolen goods.

“Crime, violence, and hate are becoming more prevalent in our communities. There are real issues that are happening not just in our province, but across the country and around the world,” he said. “Mental health struggles, the toxic opioid crisis and homelessness have intensified in recent years and the complexity of these issues continues to grow.”

The minister, who’s a former RCMP officer, said the program is aimed at boosting policing capacity, and police departments have touted it “as a critical tool in combating repeat violence.”

He said the funding for the program has benefited agencies including the Metro Vancouver Transit Police and is also credited by Vancouver police for a substantial drop in violent crime along the city’s Hastings Street.

Supt. Andrew Chan with the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police said the program’s purpose is to “enhance interagency co-ordination and prioritize repeat violent offenders across jurisdictions in a more strategic and effective way.”

“For too long, the communities we serve and the police officers who serve them have been impacted by the gaps in the justice, health and social system,” Supt. Chan said. “Concerns about violent criminals and repeat violent offenders cycling endlessly through the system are real, and they should not be ignored.”

Randy Fincham, Deputy Chief of Operations for the Metro Vancouver Transit Police, said the agency has used funding from the program in nine communities around transit hubs.

He said the targeted enforcement funding around Metrotown station led to more than 80 arrests, including weapon and drug offences and outstanding arrest warrants.

Fincham said officers also shut down a Surrey drug-dealing operation that was selling fentanyl “disguised as dog treats.”

Begg said the provincial government continues to lobby the federal government to move on bail reform, but the province can only do so much and the legal reform issues “shouldn’t undercut (or) negate the importance of policing in our society.”

Police officers, Begg said, “feel constrained sometimes because perpetrators are released.”

“But it is our intention to continue to lobby for more effective conditions when people are released from custody,” he said.

B.C. Conservative public safety critic Elenore Sturko said in a statement that the program funding “risks further bogging down B.C.’s already overwhelmed justice system.”

The statement said targeted enforcement initiatives are important, but it was “disappointing to see that when police initiatives get new funding, no additional resources are allocated to Crown, corrections, or the courts.”

“You can’t keep piling on charges without supporting the rest of the system,” she said.

This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published June 20, 2025.