Alberta working to end 'catch and release' system: justice minister

Alberta's justice minister says the province is reviewing its bail hearing system after repeated criticism that offenders are released on bail, only to commit crimes again.

"I know 'catch and release' is a very big concern for me as a Calgarian and as an Albertan," said Justice Minister Alison Redford on Friday. "We want to make sure that we can give prosecutors the resources that they need to have to ensure that they can keep people who should be in jail, in jail."

Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson and Mayor Dave Bronconnier have repeatedly expressed their frustrations with a "catch and release" cycle, where offenders are released on bail only to reoffend, then be released again.

Many of the suspects charged in the increasing number of shootings in the city over the past year were found to be subject to release conditions or firearms prohibitions.

To work on remedying that situation, Redford said police in Calgary will no longer present cases during off-hours bail hearings. By April, Crown prosecutors will attend all those hearings.

"Prosecutors are in the strongest position to make those legal arguments. They're the lawyers, and we think that those arguments are going to have a good impact on judges,"Redford told CBC News.

She said the province is working to ensure the Crown prosecutors have more complete information packages, including details of an offender's criminal history, to help strengthen their cases for keeping people behind bars.

The Alberta government will also be calling for changes to federal legislation that will eliminate credits for time served for convicted repeat criminals.