Roy Anderson, a frequent flyer of our local jails, has 10 counts of robbery, many of which involved a knife and previous convictions for serious sex offenses notched on his belt. He was on statutory release to a halfway house, and today he’s walking the streets after having not reported back in on January 27th. So now the Vancouver police want to issue a warning to the public that this dangerous person is unaccounted for.
Now, what’s a half way house? The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support.
A very noble and caring purpose to help society be a better place. But what good is it if the people who are GIVEN this opportunity don’t participate. No policing, just trust. These half way houses are placed in neighbourhoods throughout vancouver, next to families, near schools, in some ‘hoods with high property tax bills, and amongst taxpaying citizens who don’t do crime or want anything to do with crime.
What a weird coincidence then, that it wasn’t even a few months earlier that a killer walked away from a half way house in vancouver. Around the same time a shooting occurred outside a half way house reverberating into the neighbourhood calling for new measures in screening candidates for these half way houses.
Take Roy, for example, not to judge a book by it’s cover but this guy is creepy – and he’s allowed into a half way house a SECOND time after walking away to commit his nefarious little activities. I’m all for second chances, and rehabilitating socially inept and sordid people, but at what expense and to what limit? I get the distinct impression that half way houses are becoming more of a dumping ground for thugs who are no longer welcome in our over crowded prisons. And like any dumping ground, the checks and balances are just not there. It’s not fair to our community particularly when we don’t get to choose where those houses go, or have any idea where they have been placed. I for one think half way houses need to evolve to something like a halfway camp in the middle of the interior or next to a lumber mill, where these people can earn their way back to society, not given a free pass.
Anyone who sees Roy Anderson is asked to call 911 immediately. Police ask anyone with information about his whereabouts to call the VPD high-risk-offender unit at 604-717-3099.
2 Comments
For your info, I work at a halfway house and it is nota cake walk, particularly the one Anderson came from. These guys must abide by strict curfews, 2 call ins a day, visuals, and constant spot checks. While I agree that statatory release is breeding a sense of “Dumping grounds” on halfway houses, it is ridiculous to accept that halfway houses should be placed in the woods…That would defeat the entire purpose of the halfway house. Approximentally 93 percent of current offenders will at some point be done their sentance and be back in our community with NO conditions or accountability. Halfway houses are a community net that ensures we can keep an eye on people. Also almost all if not all halfway houses are online and quite accesable for those who choose to look.
Thanks for your first hand insight Michael. Would you mind sharing where we can find these halfway houses online, I chose to look for them and found it very difficult to find. It made me assume their locations were under wraps. So if you could provide some of those websites we’d appreciate it. Secondly, where does the 93% statistic come from, is that based on anything we can see online as well? If that were true, what of the 7% that re-offend, that’s quite a large fail rate if you ask me.
Secondly, why is it ridiculous to ship offenders into the boonies where they can work in a saw mill, or a cannery, and reintegrate into society in steps. Perhaps the purpose and practice of halfway houses are what’s ridiculous – especially for offenders like Roy Anderson.