CRIME IN QATHET PART II: Speaking with Rob Fitzpatrick

Crime, Courts & Corrections: Why qathet’s criminals are bouncing out of jail & what’s coming next

BY ISABELLE SOUTHCOTT AND PIETA WOOLLEY

Bill C-75 proposes that jail time is negative.

And certainly, Josh Bennett’s story seems to confirm it. He spent a week in jail, and then a month in jail, over the 15 years he was using and stealing to support his addiction. During that time behind bars, he doesn’t remember being offered treatment for his addictions, or counselling for his childhood trauma. Instead, he was released both times without support – a situation the Chronic Offenders report hopes to remedy.

The flip side of this is, some of the best mental health and addictions programs in the country are only available when you’re in federal jail – where you serve if your sentence is over two years. There are fewer than 13,000 inmates in federal jail. Most people who are sentenced serve short sentences in Provincial jails.

But some newer programs are hoping to heal the underlying causes of crime, even in Provincial jails.

For example, Miklat House’s director of operations Rob Fitzpatrick was also a chronic offender stemming from his addiction to methamphetamines and fentanyl.

He, too, lost girlfriends, apartments, friends, a $15,000 tax refund (overdosing every day for 18 days straight), friends to overdose deaths, his relationship with his family, and so much more.

“The power that drugs have on the human mind is hard to explain,” he said. “It is almost impossible to focus on anything else but the drugs. You can’t think of anything else. All I could think about was the next high and where I could get more.”

JAIL SAVED HIS LIFE: At Cranberry’s Miklat House, director of operations Rob Fitzpatrick helps other men push past thier addictions and into a new life. He got treatment at Guthrie House in Nanaimo while he was in jail for stealing a car. Rob was on CBC’s All Points West in October advocating for safe supply and for Provincial funding for detox and treatment (listen here: bit.ly/3TJf3xg).

“You get entrenched in street life because everyone is staying in shelters and everyone is doing the same thing,” he said. “As I got sicker, the crimes got simpler, like shoplifting at grocery and liquor stores, It’s quick and easy to steal a 40-ouncer and sell it on the street for half price. You’re in and out in five minutes.”

If you’re caught, he said, “they just give you a promise to appear in court and if you don’t appear they issue a warrant and you get picked up and given another promise to appear, but if you keep violating your conditions, you’ll eventually go to jail.”

Rob supports jailing of chronic offenders, but feels that without high quality addiction programs in jails, it is a revolving door. He found treatment – and his exit from street life – at Guthrie House in Nanaimo, a secure treatment centre for those who are in BC’s jails for six months or longer. After being caught in a police chase with a stolen car, he lobbied to get into the program (even though his sentence was shorter, he requested a longer sentence to qualify).

“I think it worked because of the desperation I felt. I felt like the end was coming quickly because I had overdosed dozens of times and my family had stopped communicating with me. The time I had in Guthrie House saw me move away from the madness of my life on the streets and gave me time to reflect on what was important to me. I had a lot of time in jail to reflect on my life.”

Rob credits that time in jail for saving his life. He wishes the program were available to more people in provincial jail. Rob also believes that rapid access to evidence based treatment programs are essential, inside and outside of jail. “No one should have to wait three months to get into treatment when they’re hanging onto their life by a thread.” Rob also believes that mental healthcare should be a priority, that people suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia should be prioritized and placed in secure care to be stabilized, and offered treatment options once stable.

An end to surging crime: Part 2

This article is the second in qathet Living magazine’s three-part series on crime in this region.

Part 1 explored the crimes themselves: what is happening, and what is the impact on this community?

Part 2 dives in to courts and corrections: how changes to our justice system are playing out locally.

Part 3 asks what those who are perpetrating the crimes need to be able to stop harming this community and themselves, and re-join society.

We hope these stories help inform the current conversation about crime, justice, addiction, and solutions. And, we hope to hear from you.

Please send letters (ideally before the 20th of the month) to isabelle@prliving.ca.