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By Chris Brown/Tiffany Goodwein

Up and running later this year

Drug treatment court announced for Medicine Hat

Aug 18, 2020 | 11:28 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Medicine Hat will be home to one of five drug treatment courts announced by Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer today.

The courts will help support addiction treatment and recovery.

The province says drug treatment courts offer access to “judicially-supervised treatment and recovery” to those who commit non-violent offences that are motivated by addiction. Treatment is supplemented by frequent drug testing, incentives, sanctions and social services support.

The drug treatment court will be earmarked towards non-violent offenders facing a three to four-year sentence.

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Schweitzer was at Medicine Hat Police Service headquarters to make the announcement, where he said the court should be up and running later this year.

He said the participants in the drug treatment program, which ranges from 12 to 18 months in length, are chosen based on assessments made by police and prosecutors.

“You want to make sure that the person’s not going to be a risk to the community,” he said. “So you’re looking for typically a non-violent offender that is there on drug-trafficking charges … somebody that’s servicing their addiction by committing crimes.”

Schweitzer adds a local committee is typically established to help determine the right path forward for participants. He anticipated about 10-15 participants would be in the local program at any given time.

Provincial court judge Eric D. Brooks says the judiciary in Medicine Hat firmly supports the establishment of a drug treatment court in the city.

“One of the main objectives of sentencing, along with imposing just sanctions, is to protect society and to contribute to crime prevention. A major emphasis of such an objective is to aid in the rehabilitation of an accused person,” he says in a release. “A court that focuses on the root cause of a significant portion of our local crime and that endeavours to facilitate a change in lifestyle and attitude of individuals challenged by the abuse of drugs associated with it is a significant step toward benefiting not only the accused, but also the community as a whole.”

Other drug treatment courts will be established in Lethbridge, Red Deer and two yet-to-be-determined locations. These courts are part of a potentially $20-million, four-year investment to expand the courts, currently operating in Edmonton and Calgary, across the province.

Schweitzer says drugs and property crime require a multi-faceted approach and so the province is investing $50 million to expand the reach and scope of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) in southeastern Alberta.

Established in April, the Southeast Alberta Property Crime Unit is a partnership between the Medicine Hat Police Service and the RCMP. The unit focuses on the connection between street-level drug trafficking and stolen property, which is often used as a form of currency by criminals.

Five investigators from the city police and four ALERT officers target prolific property offenders operating in Medicine Hat and the surrounding rural areas.

Police chief Andy McGrogan praised the vision of members of the MHPS who put together a case study that linked the issues around regional crime with organized crime, and showing “if we all work together how much more effective we can be.”