The provincial government is leaving itself open to a legal challenge if it insists on making Victoria youth serve short jail sentences in police lock-ups, says an expert in youth criminal justice.
“If youths are held within sight and sound of adults, there is a good basis for a court challenge,” said Queen’s University law professor Nicholas Bala in an interview from Kingston, Ont.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act allows for the temporary detention of a young person who is arrested and detained before being sentenced. It also states that a young person serving a custodial sentence shall be held in a youth custody facility, separate and apart from any adult.
“It’s not enough just to have them in a different cell. They have to be in a different part of the facility,” Bala said.
“There have been cases that have challenged detention and the courts have indicated that young people are not to be within sight or sound of adults.”
Last Monday, local police chiefs and the RCMP learned that the province plans to close the Victoria Youth Custody Centre and transfer youths in custody to centres in Burnaby or Prince George.
Children and Family Development Minister Stephanie Cadieux said that with declining funds and fewer young people ending up behind bars, the government can no longer afford to keep the jail open. The province spends about $400,000 a month to house an average of 15 boys a day in the 60-bed facility.
According to a memo from Chief Judge Thomas Crabtree to provincial court judges, the closing means that youth in Victoria on pre-court detention, short periods of remand or serving short sentences will be held in police cells.
Youth have already been serving short sentences in police lock-ups in other parts of the province, Sheldon Johnson, media relations manager for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, confirmed Friday. It happens rarely and only under extenuating circumstances.
“We always look to move youth to appropriate facilities as soon as practically possible,” Johnson said.
“That said, in the vast majority of the province, should a youth be on remand or sentenced for a short period such as two or three days, it is possible they would serve their sentence in a police lock-up if they’re not immediately near the Burnaby or Prince George youth custody centres.”
Although Saanich police have two new youth cells in their station, the cells are not separated by sound from adult offenders, said Sgt. Steve Eassie.
“If an adult offender was banging or yelling, a young person would hear them.”
Youths would also hear and possibly see adult offenders in the jail at the Victoria police station. The two youths’ cells are about five metres from the door used to bring prisoners to the jail area. Youths may be able to see prisoners being escorted in and out of the jail or being fingerprinted.
The area is not soundproof. Struggles, screaming and yelling are common when prisoners are brought in.
Even when youths are held in a separate part of a police facility, it’s a concern, Bala said.
“There are questions about what kind of access they have to education, rehabilitation and so on. Some of these young people may be as young as 12. Are they going to have appropriate support and education?”
The justice system clearly has to hold some people in custody, but they shouldn’t come out worse than they went in, Bala said.
David MacAlister, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University, also believes youth serving time in police lock-ups is less than ideal.
“The requirement to be continually locked down rather than being free to mingle with other offenders makes doing time in such a facility much harder on anyone, particularly young people,” he said.
