NCJ Number
167406
Journal
Justice Report Volume: 12 Issue: 1 Dated: (1996) Pages: 12-14
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Parole occupies a central place in Canada's correctional system and its role is to protect the public by facilitating the timely reintegration of offenders as law-abiding citizens; the National Parole Board (NPB) has the authority over when to release or to detain all federal and some provincial offenders.
Abstract
The value of parole lies in the NPB's discretionary ability to assess risk in order to determine which offenders are manageable risks in the community. The NPB provides for the gradual release of offenders from the stringent routines of prison life to the responsibilities inherent in community life. Over 8,000 offenders in Canada are in the community, serving their sentence on conditional release. Statistics show that about 75 percent of offenders are successful, 15 percent are reimprisoned because they violate parole conditions, and 10 percent are reimprisoned because they recommit crimes. The risk assessment approach adopted by the NPB permits the identification and selection of those who can be managed safely in the community, and the NPB relies on several agencies in its risk assessment role. Risk assessment also plays a key role in determining which offenders should serve their entire sentences without benefit of conditional release. All parole decisions over federal and some provincial offenders are made by the NPB, and offenders can be released with or without parole. Victims play an important role in the conditional release process and are encouraged to provide the NPB with details on how crime has impacted their lives. In addition, the NPB welcomes observers at parole hearings across the country.