Criminology
"For the past 8 years from 1999 there has been a 5% decrease in the rateof crime among Canada's three largest provinces and 9 largest metropolitanareas." This was quoted by Statistics Canada on July 18, 2000, in apublication of The Daily. Crime can be defined as "...any act or omissionregarded by a sizable segment of a given society as warranting formalintervention to control, punish and prevent behaviours."1 However thediminishing crime rate may not hold to be a true depiction of a national trendin all provinces. The decreasing crime rate in relation to Canadian society as awhole may not hold to be accurate for three main explanations; StatisticsCanada's method of official data collection to reveal the crime rate does notpresent a flawless process, there is an evident lack of uniformity amoungdifferent geographical segments, within Canada, in police reporting andpolicies, and Canadian citizens views in relation to reporting and the crimefunnel, examined with unofficial data, prove to be a factor that consequentlyinfluences crime statistics. Canadian society can be defined in relation to thispaper as; all Canadian citizens habituated within Canada holding everything
The firstindication through unofficial data that implies their may not be a true decreasein the crime rate is "people may be reluctant to report victimization. Unofficial data fills in the darkfigure of crime and aids in achieving a more accurate result of crime, however,has its downfalls that can suggest an imprecise national crime rate. These women who are more fearful, of crime feel safer in their homesthan on the streets. The seconderror is namely, systematic errors. In fact it is more of adepiction of police policies and procedures. Examples ofunofficial data are; Violence Against Women Survey, National Crime Surveyand a General Social Survey. "7 Central cities are well known targets for crime andtherefore it is not feasible to compare a city like Toronto, Ontario to one inVictoria, BC, and quote the crime rate has fallen. It furtherdistinguishes the crime rates in different provinces by explaining that thecrime rates in Manitoba and Alberta were essentially unchanged. Professional demographers have the ability to deal withsystematic errors and can adjust the numbers to get a more accurate count. Secondly, wheremany citizens fail to follow through, the interpreter of the offence must notifyauthorities and then a decision must be made to go forward to the criminaljustice authorities. However, with various flaws in crime reporting, data gathering and jurisdictionalvariations we can see why Canadians are still fearful of crime. ) of that population, and natureand extent of criminal activity alter the task environment of the police force. The may haveeither ignored the fact that they were a victim, may have just forgotten or mayhave been in a unstable condition at the time to recollect the situation. Italso states that this does not follow a national trend in that the crime rates inall four Atlantic provinces and the Yukon has increased. "10 Vise versa to the aftermath of World war II we can saythat as the police force has decreased in relation to the population the crimerate as decreased.
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Acceptance Essays
