NCR PART 3 — The Illusion of “Not Criminally Responsible”

🚨 NCR Part 3: The Illusion of “Not Criminally Responsible”

When “Treatment” Becomes a Revolving Door

🧩 Part 3 of the Series

⚠️ Content Warning: Mental illness, violence, trauma, and systemic failures. Reader discretion advised. 💛

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In British Columbia, the label NCR (Not Criminally Responsible) is meant to signal:

✅ The person is mentally unwell
✅ Treatment is the priority over punishment
✅ Society is protected while care happens

But what happens when this promise of safety and care falls apart?

🚪 They leave hospitals and secure facilities…
🚪 They return to neighborhoods without proper monitoring…
🚪 And the revolving door spins again.

Hope becomes the main safety strategy.
Compassion becomes a promise without follow-through.

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🔥 Real Lives, Real Consequences

We have seen:

💔 Families torn apart while someone declared NCR returns too soon
💔 Victims who are forever changed by preventable tragedies
💔 High-risk individuals lacking supervision or housing
💔 Communities living in fear because the system fails to track those most vulnerable

Every headline repeats the same shock:

😳 “How was this person released?”
😡 “Why didn’t anyone stop this?”
😭 “This should never have happened.”

And yet… the system does not learn.
The door swings open again.

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🧠 Where the System Cracks

The NCR framework is humane in theory.
It prioritizes treatment over punishment.

🚫 The problem is in execution:

❌ Review boards overwhelmed and under-resourced
❌ No coordinated follow-up in housing or community care
❌ Insufficient long-term psychiatric facilities
❌ High-risk individuals left with fragmented supports
❌ Families’ warnings too often ignored

The illusion is that someone is safe once declared NCR.
The reality is: risk is still present, and society still pays the price.

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🫨 The Public Pays the Price

Random, preventable tragedies erupt in:

🚨 Public spaces
🚨 Homes
🚨 Transit systems
🚨 Schools

Fear, anger, and grief ripple through communities.
Trust in mental health and justice systems erodes.

People in crisis deserve treatment.
Communities deserve protection.

Right now, BC is failing both.

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💭 Reflective Questions

💬 How should NCR boards balance treatment needs with public safety?
💬 Are families and communities sufficiently included in decisions?
💬 What concrete changes would prevent preventable tragedies?
💬 Can we design a system where release is safe, monitored, and accountable every single time?

Silence protects systems. Speaking protects people.

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✨ A Quote to Carry

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead

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🕯️ A Call to Action

We must demand:

• Proper monitoring and supervision post-release
• Guaranteed access to housing and care
• Clear accountability for NCR Review Boards
• Early intervention before tragedy strikes

This is not about blame.
It is about responsibility.

✨ BC can do better.
✨ BC must do better.

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📌 Up Next
🚦 Part 4: The Kids We Failed Before They Grew Up Broken
Overmedication, trauma, lost childhoods, and the pipeline to adult crises.
The roots of future tragedies begin long before NCR.

Stay with me.
We uncover the past to save the future. 💡🔥

#NCRPart3 #UnravelingTheSilence #MentalHealthMatters #PublicSafetyNow #BCPolitics #CompassionAndSafety #WeDeserveBetter

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