North Bay police chief calls for reform of bail system after murder of OPP officer
North Bay police chief Scott Tod is supporting other Canadian police leaders in urging the federal government to take a hard look at bail reform.
Tod offered his ideas Tuesday morning during the police services board meeting. He is joining police leaders and the 13 premiers of the provinces and territories strongly urging the federal government to look at ways to fix a “broken” bail system.
“The unfortunate part is it often takes something drastic in nature for action to occur,” said Tod.
He is referring to the Dec. 27 murder of young OPP Const. Greg Pierzchala, allegedly at the hands of Randall McKenzie, 25, and Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry, 30.
Both face first-degree murder charges.
McKenzie was previously released on bail on a number of conditions, including remaining in his home and not possessing any firearms.
OPP said Pierzchala was shot while he was responding to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville.
He was “ambushed,” police said, and had no chance to defend himself. The 28-year-old police officer later died in hospital.
There are a few ideas on Tod’s mind when it comes to bail reform. Hiring more officers to search 24/7 for dangerous offenders and bail violators would be a step forward, he said, while also creating a new system to transport all criminals arrested on a warrant to court.
“This discussion is about dangerous or violent offenders who are wanted on warrants or dangerous people who continue to present a danger in our community,” Tod said.
“The new discussion is talking about how … we strengthen bail reform to prevent dangerous people from being released.”
Western University criminology professor Michael Arntfield agrees with Tod that having more funding for officers to perform routine bail checks would help.
“In many cases, you would have officers pulled from the street to go to repeat bail violators to check that they are in their residence for their curfew or are in where they claim they are living,” he said.
“None of this is done by the courts pre-emptively.”
Arntfield is cautiously optimistic changes will come to the current system.
“Eligibility for bail has long been a contentious issue among police,” he told CTV News.
“I was a police officer for many years. Many officers take it personally when an accused is released given the circumstances.”
Arntfield said that the system in place has not been functional for decades.
While reflecting on the four RCMP officers shot and killed in Mayerthorpe, Alta., and the officers shot and killed in Moncton, N.B., Tod supports forming a new provincial task force aimed at finding ways to fix the cracks deep within the system.
“Are we providing the best possible information to the Crown attorneys and the prosecutors, and to the courts about the threats surrounding the individual? Is there a better way in which we can do it?” Arntfield asked.
“We need to incarcerate dangerous offenders and keep them incarcerated until the courts are able to determine innocence or guilt of their crimes."
The two suspects are currently awaiting their bail hearing next month.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.