British Columbia Justice
Reform Initiative Submission
Prepared by the Canadian Bankers Association
June 29, 2012
EXPERTISE CANADA BANKS ON
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Introduction
The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) is pleased to have this opportunity to participate in the British
Columbia Justice Reform Initiative as part of this broad stakeholder effort to make B.C.’s justice system more
effective.
The CBA works on behalf of 54 domestic banks, foreign bank subsidiaries and foreign bank branches
operating in Canada and their 274,000 employees. The CBA advocates for effective public policies that
contribute to a sound, successful banking system that benefits Canadians and Canada's economy. The
Association also promotes financial literacy to help Canadians make informed financial decisions and works
with banks and law enforcement to help protect customers against financial crime and promote fraud
awareness.
In considering the issues set out in the government’s Green Paper, Modernizing British Columbia’s Justice
System, the banking industry encourages all efforts to find efficiencies in the justice system that will reduce
undue delays and also allow government and the court system to dedicate targeted resources most
effectively. Similarly, we support efforts to improve continuity of Crown Counsel assigned to a file. Further,
we would be supportive of reforms to current operational practices that would allow further consideration of
interrelated issues such as drug use. The banking industry believes that allowing for a broader review of all
factors that may lead to criminal activity would be a welcome change from the incident-focused criminal law
lens currently in use. We also agree that the B.C. justice system must be effective in intervening to promote
safety and ensuring those who commit crimes face real consequences for their actions to adequately deter
criminal activities.
Without question, victims of crime face immeasurable and long-term psychological effects and therefore their
protection must be a primary objective.
Bank robberies in British Columbia
In the context of the work of the Justice Reform Initiative, the banking industry brings forward a particular and
longstanding concern about the high rate of bank and other financial institution robberies in British Columbia
in recent years. For several years, the CBA has been actively engaged on a number of fronts to address this
problem, working cooperatively with a range of stakeholders in government, law enforcement, crown counsel
and other private sector partners.
Financial institution robbery, indeed robbery in general, is an issue of serious concern for communities across
Canada. Unfortunately, financial institution robberies are more likely to occur in British Columbia than in other
Canadian provinces. This can include violent branch “take-over” style robberies, where several offenders
armed with weapons physically take over a financial institution, maintain control and threaten the lives of
everyone present. In fact, bank robbery occurrences in the rest of Canada average 8% in the display of a
weapon (i.e. firearm, knife, pepper spray, syringe etc.), whereas the rate in B.C. in 2012 is currently at 21%.
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The banking industry has 783 bank branches and over 28,000 bank employees in British Columbia. Bank
robberies are an unpredictable and personal crime, with a physical and emotional impact on customers and
employees. It is the risk this crime poses to innocent people, not the actual money that is stolen, that is the
primary concern of the banking industry.
Despite a recent reduction in the number of annual occurrences, British Columbia continues to stand out as
having the highest robbery rate in Canada (see Appendix, Figures 1, 2 and 3). In the Greater Vancouver
Regional District, the situation is worse than any other jurisdiction in Canada, with more offenders robbing
financial institutions more often. More generally, Vancouver remains the worst metropolitan area in Canada
for property crime. Despite the substantial likelihood of being caught, offenders are not deterred from
committing these crimes.
The combined efforts of all stakeholders to date, including minor increases in sentencing and a clearance rate
of 85% by charge for the province, have all contributed to a lower incidence of bank robberies (see Appendix,
Figure 4 – YTD Comparison 2003 to 2012). However, much more needs to be done.
Areas of concern
The CBA and other stakeholders involved in this matter recognize that the robbery problem in British
Columbia is complex and due to a number of factors. The banking industry has identified three principal
areas of concern that need to be addressed in order to achieve a substantial reduction in the number of
robberies of financial institutions in the province:
1. Sentencing – The high rate of financial institution robberies in British Columbia is compounded by the
more lenient sanctions given to offenders in British Columbia compared to other provinces. In a
November 2008 study by Professor Anthony Doob (University of Toronto) and Professor Cheryl Webster
(University of Ottawa) entitled, Concern with Leniency: An Examination of Sentencing Patterns in British
Columbia, the authors stated that “compelling empirical support exists for the view that sentences in
British Columbia are shorter than in Canada generally.” Although the study did not examine bank
robberies specifically, it did find that for 25 of the 30 offences it did compare, sentences in British
Columbia were more lenient than in other jurisdictions.
2. Repeat offenders – Many of the robberies are being committed by offenders who are on parole,
probation, unlawfully at large, or out on bail. In addition, due to the extensive use of early parole, many
offenders are serving only part of their sentence.
3. Drug addiction – Problems associated with drug addiction, including inadequate funding for treatment of
drug addicts, is a key factor. Much of the cash stolen in bank robberies in Vancouver, or the cash that
has been converted from stolen property, is used to buy drugs. Despite the fact that substance abuse is
clearly aggravating the financial institution robbery issue, when it comes to sentencing, evidence
suggests that substance abuse is often used to justify shorter sentences. This is not the case in other
jurisdictions.
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A holistic approach needs to be adopted that involves active co-operation and collaboration between law
enforcement agencies, crown counsel, the correctional services and government departments, including an
effective drug rehabilitation program.
Ongoing CBA engagement
The CBA has been active over the majority of the past decade in its work to reduce the number of bank
robberies in British Columbia. Among the areas of focus are the following:
Engagement with law enforcement
We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the police forces in the province. Several years ago, the Vancouver
Police increased resources devoted to dealing with financial institution robberies. That helped achieve a
higher clearance rate and a reduction in the number of occurrences in Vancouver. The CBA and the banks’
Regional Heads of Security meet regularly with senior members of the Vancouver Police.
Crown Counsel
Through the industry’s dialogue with Crown Counsel in B.C., the “proof of concept” scheme in Vancouver –
assigning dedicated and experienced Crown Counsel to robbery offences – has had a positive impact with
offenders being dealt with more quickly, in a more consistent manner, and with a movement toward receiving
sentences that are more in line with the penalties given in other jurisdictions in Canada.
Vancouver Robbery Coalition
The CBA led the creation of the Vancouver Robbery Coalition in 2005, made up of a range of partners across
business, law enforcement and government. The coalition meets regularly to share best practices aimed at
preventing and reducing robberies and to assist law enforcement in crime mitigation. The coalition is
comprised of representatives from: B.C./Vancouver law enforcement; Crown Counsel Office; CBA and
member banks; credit unions; Credit Union Central of B.C.; Downtown Vancouver Association; Downtown
Vancouver Business Improvement Association; and, Western Convenience Stores Association.
CBA Security Specialists Group
The CBA has in place a Security Specialists Group made up of bank representatives who are subject matter
experts, including physical security managers. This group meets regularly to share best practices, develop
tactics and strategies, provide guidance to the CBA’s Centralized Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (CFCIU),
and to support the efforts of the bank security personnel and police. Although the Group is responsible for
robbery issues nationally, it pays particular attention to the situation in Lower Mainland B.C.
Centralized Financial Crimes Intelligence Unit (CFCIU)
The CBA established the CFCIU, as part of its Bank Crime Prevention and Investigation Office (an
“Investigative Body” under the Personal information Protection and Electronic Documents Act), in January
2008 to collect criminal occurrence information and digital images of suspects, conduct analysis and develop
intelligence to enable bank security members to proactively prevent crime and, when it does occur, to bring
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those responsible to justice. An important task of the CFCIU is to support the working groups and the
investigative efforts of bank security and municipal and provincial police in British Columbia.
CBA Recommendations
Based on the background information noted above, the banking industry is putting forward the following
recommendations for consideration as part of the Justice Reform Initiative.
As is evident from the commentary in our submission to this point, there is considerable overlap among the
many issues at play involving the high rate of bank robberies in the province. That overlap is also evident in
the recommendations set out below, though we have made every effort to group the recommendations in a
straightforward manner.
Tougher sentences
Sentences remain lighter in B.C. than in other jurisdictions. Among the issues that need to be addressed in
this context:

Prior convictions should influence sentencing. In other provincial jurisdictions, an offender’s number of
prior robbery convictions influences the length of the sentence – the more convictions, the longer the
sentence. In British Columbia this is not the case, as the number of prior convictions appears to have
little influence on the sentence. As noted above, one-third of financial institution robbery offences are
committed by offenders who are on parole, probation, unlawfully at large or out on bail.

Sentencing and drug dependency need to be linked. B.C. courts regularly consider addiction as a
mitigating factor, resulting in a more lenient sentence. This is not the case in other jurisdictions.

Harm reduction and sentencing in B.C. should be reconciled.

The province should eliminate the current practice of discounting penalties by up to one-third once an
individual is sentenced.

B.C. should consider benchmarking sentences with those imposed in other provinces – other provinces’
sentencing practices appear to be contributing to better outcomes, lower robbery rates, lower recidivism
rates and general deterrence.
Addressing substance abuse
With substance abuse as a critical factor in almost all financial institution robberies, we encourage the
provincial government to address drug dependency and reduce recidivism. Further, it is important to make a
direct link between sentencing and efforts by the province to end the offender’s drug dependency.
Appropriate sentencing must occur to ensure that there is an opportunity for the drug addiction robbery cycle
to be broken. Increased penalties for repeat offenders and those who fail to successfully complete drug
dependence programs serves to both protect the innocent victims of these crimes, and to permit a greater
chance of successfully addressing the drug dependency.
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A much broader point, though directly related, is the need to address the role of organized crime and the drug
trade in creating the drug dependency that contributes substantially to the financial institution robbery
situation in the province. The increasing number of gang slayings in British Columbia underlines this
observation.
Proof of Concept
The Proof of Concept scheme of assigning dedicated and experienced Crown Counsel to the prosecution of
bank robberies in Vancouver has been very helpful and should be extended to other cities in British
Columbia. In Vancouver this has greatly reduced the time and effort of police and the courts to process and
conclude these files.
The success of the dedicated Crowns in Vancouver is in pulling together prolific/multiple jurisdiction robbery
files into one indictment and then moving these files quickly through to a plea. The proven strength of this
approach is in case ownership by an assigned Assistant Crown Counsel. A culture of case ownership must
be encouraged in British Columbia, as discussed in the Green Paper, to reduce costs and the duplication of
efforts that stems from having multiple Crown Counsel assigned successively to the same case, often ending
in poor outcomes.
The CBA believes that the failure to manage offenders and the addictions that underpin their behaviour,
coupled with a lack of policy to ensure that prior offences and current charges outstanding in other
jurisdictions are brought together in British Columbia, has resulted in inefficiencies and increased costs. The
mechanism to conduct these checks is available through the Attorney General’s Justin program, but the
program is not being used effectively.
The CBA recommends Crown case ownership across British Columbia, along with a direct link between
sentencing and drug dependency. This approach will reduce workload and aid in restoring public confidence
in prosecutions in British Columbia.
Conclusion
The Canadian Bankers Association appreciates having this opportunity to provide the banking industry’s input
into the British Columbia Justice Reform Initiative as part of the government’s effort to achieve a more
effective justice system for the province. The banking industry has considerable expertise in dealing with
issues related to crime, and banks invest significant financial and human resources to the prevention,
detection and investigation of criminal activity related to their operations. While protecting customers and
safeguarding the financial system from losses through financial crimes is an important undertaking, the
industry is especially committed to protecting their clients and their staff from the physical and emotional
impact that result from being victims of a bank robbery.
We believe that the recommendations set out above should be seriously considered in the context of
achieving a more effective justice system in British Columbia. The CBA would be pleased to continue to
work cooperatively through the Justice Reform Initiative, including its upcoming White Paper, and with the
government directly, toward this worthwhile and necessary objective.
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Appendix – Bank Robberies in British Columbia
Bank Robberies for Major Canadian Cities – 2010 & 2011
Figure 1 – 2010
2010 - Bank Robberies per Capita by City
# Robberies per 100K People
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg
Toronto
Montreal
603,502
1,096,833
812,201
663,617
2,615,060
1,649,518
City and Population*
* 2010 population figures unavailable, 2011 population figures were used
Figure 2 – 2011
# Robberies per 100K People
2011 - Bank Robberies per Capita by City
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Vancouv e r
Calgary
Edmonton
Winnipeg
Toronto
M ontre al
603,502
1,096,833
812,201
663,617
2,615,060
1,649,518
City and Population
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Figure 3 – Robberies per 100,000 residents in major Canadian cities
# Robberies
per 100K
# Robberies
per 100K
Branch City
Population
# Robberies
(2010)
Vancouver
603,502
58
10
70
12
Calgary
1,096,833
28
3
42
4
Edmonton
812,201
13
2
9
1
Winnipeg
663,617
14
2
17
3
Toronto
2,615,060
37
1
53
2
Montreal
1,649,518
82
5
87
5
# Robberies
(2011)
(rounded to
nearest whole)
(rounded to
nearest whole)
Year-To-Date Comparison of British Columbia Financial Institution Robberies
Figure 4
YTD Comparison
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
2003
31
79
89
100
107
115
134
164
179
213
251
272
2004
32
74
111
146
177
201
239
257
285
316
361
413
2005
26
47
66
106
146
180
196
235
282
313
358
381
2006
37
71
98
124
142
161
180
216
240
257
273
321
8
2007
58
77
116
155
185
204
233
260
287
349
409
472
2008
51
84
146
189
208
218
242
250
287
319
351
385
2009
47
79
104
123
151
178
191
219
233
271
299
313
2010
20
49
72
95
120
131
147
170
192
200
209
217
2011
11
28
51
71
96
112
125
133
169
202
232
264
2012
16
28
47
57
77