Justice and Public Safety Minister Bernard Davis has announced nearly $24 million that will go towards new tools and technologies to enhance access to justice and strengthen public trust in the system. Davis says this multi-year investment will support 25 new correctional officers, 18 crown attorneys, 14 new deputy sheriffs, and a manager of court security for Labrador. He says funding will also support the digital transformation of the entire justice system, benefiting all aspects of the system, including courts, police, corrections, probation, victim services, and public prosecutions. The opposition’s Justice critic, Helen Conway-Ottenheimer says this will not effectively address the problem but at least government has acknowledged there is a problem. The President of the NL Crown Attorneys Association, Shawn Patten, says they’re happy to hear government respond so quickly. He said last week they were looking for 25-30 lawyers to be able to get to under 120 files for each lawyer. Yesterday’s announcement builds on the nearly $20 million investment to support public safety initiatives announced by Minister Davis last week (November 5th). That funding includes the establishment of a provincial, 10-member Joint-Task Force Unit comprised of RNC and RCMP officers to target weapon, drug and contraband enforcement and critical incident response activities. It also includes 5 new RCMP officers and 19 RNC officers.
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