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Will BC’s jails be able to hold the Stanley Cup rioters?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Two Stanley Cup rioters have been sentenced to time behind bars. So what does that mean for British Columbia’s already crowed jails?

University of the Fraser Valley Criminologist Dr. Irwin Cohen thinks as more people are sentenced, BC’s correctional system may have to find some creative options.

“It could cause a bit of a challenge for the overcrowdedness. They may decide to use alternative measures [like] incarcerating you inside the community instead of in custody, but it certainly could cause a problem,” he believes.

Cohen thinks some people may serve time on particular days or on staggered days.

“There’s a lot of those decisions that judges can make, so you could get a formal custody sentence but not actually spend time in a custody centre.”

He also anticipates the sentenced rioters would stay here in BC because of the cost to ship them to other provinces and jail systems.

Vancouver Police have recommended close to 600 charges against 200 or so suspected rioters. So far, the Crown has approved 276 charges against 104 people.

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