Jack Layton and the New Democrats will implement a five-point plan to tackle violent crime.

Though overall crime rates are falling, violent crime continues to rise. Jack Layton’s New Democrats believe the federal government must do more to protect our communities, and attack the roots of violent crime.

1. Support Our Police Officers – and Reinforce Them

Our police officers need the tools and resources to do their job. Their effective work is key to a safe community. We will:

Create 2,500 new police officer positions to make our city streets safer.

Increase resources and co-ordination among all law enforcement and judicial agencies to ensure prompt return to the appropriate jurisdiction of all accused who are wanted on Canada-wide warrants.

Put a new emphasis on "cyber-crime" that targets seniors and young people in particular.

Strengthen witness protection to ensure that young people and members of the community can more readily come forward with information they have about crime in their community, especially crimes involving violence and handguns.

Strengthen efforts to curb and prosecute white-collar and corporate crime.

Initiate a stringent review process to help re-establish the RCMP's public credibility and re-establish its role in providing leadership in policing across Canada.

Fight the growing and unacceptable problem of human trafficking by adding new provisions to the Criminal Code and introducing new immigration regulations.

Implement new legislation to require all Canadian Internet Service Providers to prevent the publication or proliferation of child sexual abuse content on the Internet.

2. Take on Gang Violence

The influence of gangs is growing. We’re going to fight back for our communities. We will:

Support dedicated federal/provincial police units to combat gangs and organized crime networks, backed by organized crime prosecution teams.

Ensure first-degree murder charges for gang related homicides.

Make drive-by shootings and firing at a building indictable offences.

Re-classify auto theft as a stand-alone, indictable violent offence.

Create a federally funded permanent youth gang diversion strategy, including:

• Substance abuse prevention and harm reduction programs.
• Stay-in-school programs.
• Employment programs and conflict mediation skills training.
• Expansion of Canadian Crime Prevention Fund pilot projects.

3. Take on Gun Crime

Handguns have no place on the streets of our communities, except in the hands of law enforcement officials. Building on New Democrats’ work in Parliament to curb gun violence, which included mandatory minimum sentences for crimes committed with a handgun, Jack Layton and his team of New Democrats will:

Enable cities, communities and provinces to choose to implement an ‘absolute ban’ on handguns by tightening existing restrictions on handgun possession.

Facilitate a Canada-US Summit of law makers and law enforcement personnel from all levels of government along with stakeholders to tackle the ongoing crisis of illegal handguns being smuggled into Canada.

Halt the illegal importation of handguns from the United States and target the sale of illegal weapons via the Internet.

4. Address The Roots of Crime with Active Prevention

Core to a safe community is the avoidance of crime, and the development of a healthy community. We will:

Increase federal government funding for prevention and awareness campaigns focused on solutions to violence in our communities.

Create a year-round youth employment and skills development program delivered through a pan-Canadian network of youth centres. The program will promote skills enhancement, community development, sports, culture, and recreational activities. It will lead to high quality jobs, career opportunities and active involvement by young people in their communities.

5. Effective Prosecution and Enforcement

The fair and effective administration of justice is a cornerstone to maintaining a safe community. We will:

Act on the need for more effective prison and sentencing programs to reduce the number of repeat offenders and end the ‘revolving door’ syndrome, to build up restorative justice opportunities, and to increase training, rehabilitation and drug addiction programs within the justice system.

Set national standards for the use of tasers and review the existing standards and practices in place across the country, working with provincial and municipal police forces.

Reinvest the recovered proceeds of crime in the affected communities to reduce crime and increase community safety.

Working with the provinces to ensure swift and fair justice, we will fund changes so an accused's day in court is not many months or years after the crime.

Repeal the use of security certificates, which have led to imprisonment without due process under Conservative and Liberal governments.

Ensure that all provisions of the Criminal Code are used effectively to protect Canadians from acts of violence and/or terror.

Establish a House of Commons committee to exercise oversight over all intelligence agencies, including CSIS and the RCMP.

Other Measures to Strengthen Our Communities

Jack Layton and the New Democrats will:

Implement the New Democrats’ bill to eliminate racial and religious profiling, in collaboration with federal agencies and provincial and municipal police forces.

In collaboration with provinces and territories, give domestic violence cases higher priority in the administration of justice, and improve counseling and therapeutic services for abused women and other victims of crime.

Aid the victims of crime by ensuring adequate funding for the criminal injuries compensation system, in cooperation with provinces and territories.

Increase federal government investment and support for family shelters for victims of violence and crime.