An Alberta man has been escorted home by Victoria police Tuesday morning to face criminal charges, as the first passenger in a so-called Con Air program funded by local businesses.

Last week, police arrested a 25-year-old man who was allegedly drinking beer in a Victoria park.

Later they learned he was facing more serious charges in Alberta, including two counts of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and uttering threats.

On Tuesday morning two police officers escorted the man on a flight to Calgary and turned him over to local police.

It was the first such trip for Victoria's newly launched program to return suspects, based on a similar program launched earlier this year in Vancouver.

The Victoria program is funded by a $10,000 donation from the local business community.

Suspects with non-returnable warrants targeted

The programs target people arrested in Vancouver and Victoria who are also wanted on non-returnable warrants in other provinces.

Normally suspects arrested in other provinces on non-returnable warrants are not returned to those jurisdictions to face charges because the issuing authorities do not consider the charges serious enough to pay for the return of the suspects.

Insp. Jamie Pearce said that, as a result, people facing charges in other provinces often end up hiding out from prosecution in B.C.

"These offenders come to British Columbia and more specifically Victoria because of our hospitable weather, our social empathy towards the less fortunate and our more liberal criminal justice system," said Pearce. "In the process, Victoria becomes a place of sanctuary to escape criminal prosecution for these offenders."

Downtown Victoria Business Association general manager Ken Kelly said his organizations was glad to pay to fly some of those suspects back home.

"Because of the impact which our business and property owners find with people who choose to disobey the law, we are supporting the Con Air program," said Kelly.

Police in Vancouver, who started a similar program earlier this year, have been criticized for parading suspects in front of the TV cameras before loading them onto planes.

Sgt. Grant Hamilton said Victoria police were sensitive to that concern and would not be taking the suspects through the main entrance at the airport, but they are looking for more donations to continue the program in Victoria.

Vancouver police have said their studies shown as many as 2,500 people in that city are wanted by police agencies in other provinces.

And 90 per cent of those wanted on non-returnable warrants contacted by police said they knew about the warrant for their arrest, and 36 per cent admitted to leaving the warrant jurisdiction in order to avoid arrest.