🌑 Unraveling the Silence: When Systems Fail
BC NCR Cases and Public Safety
Part 2 of the Series
⚠️ Content Warning: Violence and mental health system failures affecting families and the public.
There is a heartbreaking pattern in British Columbia. Someone in deep mental distress harms others. They are arrested. The courts declare them NCR (Not Criminally Responsible due to mental disorder). Society breathes a sigh of relief because we believe:
✅ They are secured
✅ They are monitored
✅ They are receiving care
✅ We are protected
But time passes...
A review board meets...
And suddenly…
🚪 They are back in our communities.
Not reintegrated with comprehensive supports.
Not connected to ongoing, compassionate, consistent treatment.
Just back, with hope as the main safety strategy.
🔥 Real Lives. Real Consequences.
We have seen:
💔 Parents murdered by suffering children
💔 Children taken violently by unwell parents
💔 Random attacks against the public
💔 Victims who will never go home
Every time the news breaks, the response is the same:
😳 “How was this person released?”
😡 “Why didn’t anyone stop this?”
😭 “This should never have happened.”
And yet... it keeps happening.
Because the system was designed to protect, but not to follow through.
🧩 The NCR Process: Where it Cracks
When a person is declared NCR, the spotlight moves away from punishment and toward treatment.
This is good. Humane. Necessary.
🚫 The problem is what comes next.
BC does not have enough:
❌ Long-term psychiatric beds
❌ Facility-based supports
❌ Community monitoring
❌ Wraparound care
❌ Housing and supervision for high-risk patients
Instead, we rely on fragmented services and overloaded review boards making decisions in a void.
😱 The Public Pays the Price
Not just emotionally… but physically.
Transit workers, kids on playgrounds, tourists in public spaces, even families inside their own homes.
We see stranger attacks, random stabbings, unprovoked violence.
Our communities are shaken. Trust erodes. Fear grows.
People deserve safety.
People in crisis deserve treatment.
Right now, BC is failing both.
✍️ REFLECTIVE QUESTIONS
💬 How can we balance compassion for mental illness with real community safety?
💬 Do you believe victims and families are included in NCR decisions?
💬 Should the public be notified about high-risk offenders released into neighborhood settings?
💬 What would you change first: more beds, more monitoring, more trauma-informed care?
Your thoughts matter. Silence protects the system. Speaking protects people.
✨ A Quote to Carry
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
🕯️ A Call to Action
We must demand a complete overhaul of NCR post-release support systems.
No more preventable tragedies.
No more families destroyed while politicians shrug.
This is not about blame.
It is about responsibility.
BC can do better.
BC must do better.
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