Clifford Lee says P.E.I. judges should take part of the blame for a spike in property crime. (CBC)

A Prince Edward Island mayor is calling for the justice system to detain people accused of property crimes until they face the charges in court.

Clifford Lee said Charlottetown has seen a rise in breaking and entering offences and car thefts recently and that justices of the peace should shoulder part of the blame.

About 24 people have been charged with property crimes in Charlottetown in the past eight weeks. Half have been freed until their court appearances.

"Within 12 hours, they're back on the street for the Charlottetown police to deal with. It's really frustrating, it's really difficult, it's challenging to get this thing under control," Lee said.

"You know who's committing the crime, but you need to set up surveillance all over again and follow them again until you catch them the next time. What needs to happen is the police need to be supported by the rest of the justice system."

There have been 142 breaking and entering offences committed in the capital this year and police said most of them have been committed by a small group of repeat offenders.

The mayor said that must change. Lee wants justices of the peace to keep people accused of property crimes in jail until their court appearances.

Legal obstacles

It's up to Crown prosecutors like Cindy Wedge to request that a person be held in custody, and then to show that person meets one of the requirements for custody that are laid out in the Criminal Code. But Wedge says the justice of the peace makes the final decision.

"How does the mayor get what the mayor wants? Well it's one of two things," said Wedge.

"Either the government of Canada decides to change the Criminal Code, or justices of the peace decide to exercise their discretion differently, but there is no one who can inflict that upon a justice of the peace."

The mayor has requested a meeting with the attorney general's office to fix what he called a broken system.