If you live in a city in Canada—or anywhere in Canada for that matter—you’ll see news headlines about rising crime rates. In Calgary, there are plenty of news reports on increasing crimes, especially in public areas like bus stops or LRT stations. Homeless encampments are routine, bringing along criminal activity. The opioid epidemic continues to claim 100 lives every month in Alberta. Even with stricter gun laws in Canada, violent crimes persist. Public spaces are especially dangerous. During the period from January to May 2023, nearly 6,000 calls were made to the police from transit stations in Calgary. That is a 2,000-call increase compared to the same period in 2022. Our civic leaders know this is a problem, but their solutions thus far are impotent to deal with the issue.
Calgary is investing $1.9 million to improve public safety in the downtown core through increased lighting, cameras, and more enforcement personnel.[1]
The city of Calgary has also recently issued a report with 28 proposed recommendations to deal with the issue of public safety.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek said, “By collaborating with our partners, we are able to address the complex challenges in our downtown with compassion.”
The mayor makes a point to emphasize that her solution is compassionate. Compassionate for whom? For the criminals, drug users, and homeless that endanger public safety?
It is not compassion for law-abiding, tax-paying, hard-working citizens of Calgary. They will have an increased tax burden to pay for these new measures and upcoming programs, but the problems will continue. It is unjust to make law-abiding citizens pay for the damage and unrest caused by a few. How is that compassionate?
Of course, the ugly ideology of cultural Marxism undergirds the Western ruling class today. Those on the street, using drugs, and causing threats to public safety are seen as victims. Deep down, they are good people who have been downtrodden by an evil system through no fault of their own. In some cases this is close to the truth. However, the problems have increased as “compassionate measures” have increased. Maybe there is a connection.
This is a case where worldview really matters. Public safety is key to a successful society. Our children must live in this city and our wives should not be fearful of heading out the door.
The most basic function of government, according to Scripture, is to keep the peace and punish the evildoer (Romans 13:1–4). By so doing, the righteous prosper and are rewarded by living in a society where neither lives nor possessions are in danger from vagabonds or marauding bands.
I realize that nobody asked for my opinion, but I’d like to offer it anyway. What would I propose if I were special counsel to the mayor? How would I, believing in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture with its sufficiency to handle every situation of life, give counsel? What is a biblical response to the public problems facing our city and all who dwell in it?
Let me (1) outline some principles; (2) suggest short-term fixes; and (3) plead for long-term change.
Principles
Many principles in Scripture are salient to the topic at hand. I want to narrow my focus and consider principles regarding the correction or punishment of crimes. If crime is an issue in our country—and it is—then what tools do we have to correct it and deter those from committing it?
Before considering biblical principles, we must realize that what we’re doing today ain’t working. Having safe injection sites and a clean drug supply isn’t helping reduce crime or addictions.[2] Reducing penalties for crimes and allowing petty crimes to go unaddressed is exacerbating the problem. A litany of government programs—with their correspondingly high tax burden—is not doing it.
When considering punishment for crimes in our society, we typically think of jails and prisons. Of course, in our age of enlightenment, we prefer to call them “correctional facilities.” Having visited the inside of one of these “correctional facilities” for 3 weeks, I can testify that the men inside are not being corrected but are improving their criminal craft by sharing their exploits.
A study from 10 years ago demonstrated that each Canadian pays $550 per year in taxes to cover the nearly $20 billion expenditure for the criminal justice system. $5 billion of this goes to running prisons. The average cost of detaining a prisoner is $115,000 per year—triple the yearly tuition at Harvard!
Evenly divided, every person is Canada is paying $140 every year to keep men in jail. In my family of 10, that’s $1400 every year. In other words, it is as if I’m getting a fine of $1400 every year to pay for a crime someone else committed. To make matters worse, tax-paying, hard-working citizens pay higher “fines” as crime goes up. They pay for crimes that they didn’t commit and have suffered from!
For the true victims of crime, this $20 billion a year doesn’t go to make restitution for their losses, it goes to process criminals through a revolving door, giving many of them clothing and three warm meals a day with a roof over their head. These criminals take a quick timeout before they return to the streets and do more damage and injure more lives. There is a word for this: Injustice. There is a better way.
Principle of Restitution and Corporal Punishment
If you comb the Old Testament for guidance on improving the prison system, you’ll find nothing. There were no prisons in the old covenant. Under God’s law, the principle of restitution and the principle of corporal punishment are included in the preferred and just methods of correction.
What is restitution? It is the principle in which you restore something stolen, damaged, or pay recompense for injury or loss. In essence, those who commit crimes must work to pay back what they stole, damaged, or abused. Rather than the tax-paying citizen paying for the loss or damage, those who committed the crime must pay it back with money or sweat equity—and not pay the government, but the victim. There are numerous examples of restitution in Scripture to provide practical guidance in this area (Exodus 21:33–22:15; Numbers 5:7–10).
The other principle of correction and deterrence is the principle of corporal punishment. What happens when restitution will not or cannot be made? The Scriptures give us guidance. Deuteronomy 25:1–3 says, “If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense. Forty stripes may be given him, but not more, lest, if one should go on to beat him with more stripes than these, your brother be degraded in your sight.”
People might object that this passage shouldn’t apply today. It is noteworthy to mention that Paul quotes the next verse and applies it as a relevant and abiding principle. “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain” (Deuteronomy 25:4; applied in 1 Timothy 5:18). If Paul applies the principle of verse 4, should we not apply the principle of verses 1–3?
The idea of corporal punishment today sounds so archaic. Yet the Bible teaches corporal punishment in the home—we call it spanking (Proverbs 23:13–14; 13:24; 29:15; 22:15). Not too long ago it happened in school and in the public square. Have there been abuses? Of course. But do we neglect a biblical principle because of those abuses? No. Rather than cede to humanist, enlightenment thinking which ignores the revelation of God, we need to adopt the principles in the word, trusting that what God has said is best.
Our view of compassion, righteousness, and justice may need some reworking to align with the God who is compassion, righteousness, and justice. “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15). “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you” (Psalm 89:14).
Certainly some particulars need to be discussed, but we cannot deal with crime and public safety while ignoring the principles of God’s word. God’s word is sufficient to speak to every facet of life—including making our cities places of safety and justice.
Short-Term Solutions
With the principles above in mind, let me offer a few short-term solutions to the crime problem in Canada.
- Restitution. Those involved in crimes must make restitution. Civil service, manual labor, and financial penalties must be levied to turn the guilty into contributors rather than burdens. Hard-working taxpayers should not bear the burden of paying for crimes committed against them in their own cities.
- Corporal Punishment. Those guilty of crimes should receive swift and decisive punishment. Physical discipline is a neglected tool. Proverbs 22:15 is relevant to a grown “child” who needs discipline: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.”
- Zero-Tolerance Police for Petty Crimes. Rather than being lax about small crimes, the opposite is necessary. Trends suggest that drug possession, drug use, break and enter, theft under $5000, and trespassing are being treated more leniently. It is important to act quickly and decisively to nip this behavior in the bud before problems get too big to uproot. Many of these petty crimes are committed by young people. They need to learn and learn quickly before they are set on a path of increasing crime or lose their own lives.
Do people with addiction need help? Yes, of course! The current opioid epidemic is terrible. I have sympathy for those who have lost loved ones because of it. But rather than enabling this sin, let us rid our streets of drugs and make it rare through zero-tolerance enforcement. - No Homelessness. Homelessness should not be allowed in our cities. There is help for people to avail themselves to get off the streets—and more work needs to be done here. Dealing with the drug problem first will aid significantly in this area. Those who are homeless should be registered (just like law-abiding citizens are “registered” with driver’s licenses, social insurance numbers, and so forth) so that persistent violators can be dealt with.[3] Cities that provide “sanctuary” for the homeless or illegal migrants quickly become dangerous cities. A zero-tolerance policy will lead to safe cities.
Long-Term Solutions
Of course, the short-term solutions above aren’t going to remedy every problem. There are deep-set problems in our society because it has moved away from God and the principles of his word. For true societal transformation, we need the Holy Spirit to change hearts through the power of the gospel. We need more preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, declaring him Lord over all and the Savior of mankind, and calling people to repentance and faith.
One of the other areas that needs to be remedied is the breakdown of the family. The government cannot fix this issue. The public safety problem is a family problem before it is a societal problem. More specifically, we need righteous fathers. Failures in society and education can be traced back to the family, and failures in the family can be traced back to the failure of fathers. Is it any wonder that the Bible puts so much stress on fathers leading their homes with righteousness and shepherding the hearts of their wives and children? Oh God, give us men!
But more primal than the failure of fathers is the failure of religion. Churches, for the most part, are not preaching the Christ of Scripture. The church must exalt Christ, boldly proclaim the whole counsel of God, and equip fathers and the family to live faithfully in this world. Judgment begins in the household of God. As the pulpit goes, so goes the church. As the church goes, so goes the family. As the family goes, so goes the world. We need revival and reformation in our churches, in our families, and in our cities. May God be gracious to give us hearts to call upon his name and yearn for his saving power and righteousness in our day and in the days of our children.
—Tim Stephens
[1] The city is adding 65 transit peace officers to the beat, with 12 of them having graduated late last month, while also improving CCTV and lighting coverage on LRT platforms.
[2] These sites become havens for drug dealers and bring crime to the area. Those who supervise the sites wish to teach people how to use hard drugs safely. This is an oxymoron.
[3] I cannot drive around the city without a driver’s license. I cannot setup a tent in a park without a permit. Why should not the same standard apply to all people?