British Columbia Premier David Eby announces the creation of dedicated hubs of police, dedicated prosecutors and probation officers aimed at addressing the issue of violent repeat offenders across the province. He is joined at the news conference in Nanaimo by Mike Farnworth (B.C. public safety minister), Niki Sharma (B.C. attorney general), Sheila Malcolmson (B.C. mental health and addictions minister), Leonard Krog (mayor of Nanaimo) and Ray Carfantan (RCMP Superintendent). As part of the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative, the twelve regional hubs will be located throughout the province in Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Surrey, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Cranbrook, Prince George, Williams Lake and Terrace. The announcement comes in the midst of increasing violent crime in the community, including a recent incident in which a local business owner was shot while retrieving stolen property from an encampment.
