No excuse for crime

Re letter: Crack down on criminals (Castanet, Sept. 24)

I couldn't agree more with the contents of that letter .

It seems the RCMP is going to improve its services to the businesses and residents of Kelowna and that's a good start, but only if they ensure that they follow through.

Patrols are needed and those out on the streets with stolen carts and stolen bikes need to be stopped and searched. Our safety far outweighs their rights.

Honest, hard-working people (business owners and home owners) now have to hope the legal system will really do its job.

And here the doubts start showing up.

(Kelowna’s ) mayor recently stated: “addiction driven crime (is) a health care issue that needs to be treated that way.”

That's likely a nice way of looking at the crime issues in our city but how exactly do you treat crime via health care? We have no proper rehab facilities, or at least facilities big enough to treat the problems here.

So, should we ignore or forget that laws are broken and crimes are committed because the law-breakers are suffering from a health care issue?

To allow crimes to be committed and excused because the criminal has an addiction is a sad dereliction of duty by our legal system and is an extremely poor commentary by the mayor of a city who appears to be encouraging criminal activity by those with an addiction.

Yes addiction is a terrible thing that is hurting so many, and not just in Kelowna. But crime is still a crime, and addiction should not be a get-out-of-jail card.

Malcolm Roberts, Kelowna