Welcome to my Crime and Justice blog! I am a 19 year old criminal justice student at the University of Winnipeg. I advocate for prisoners' rights, human rights, equality and criminal justice/prison system reforms.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

New crime statistics for Canada 2009

Province has highest homicide rate

It's grim news for a city that once wore the murder capital of Canada crown.
Now, Winnipeg has the title of the Canadian city with the most severe violent crime.
A Statistics Canada survey on crime released Tuesday said Manitoba continues to have the highest homicide rate in Canada for the third year running. Winnipeg has the third-highest homicide rate in Canada, behind Abbotsford-Mission and Thunder Bay.
It and Nunavut are the only Canadian territories or provinces to report an increase in crime severity. Gord Mackintosh, the province's acting justice minister, said the province has "serious concerns" about its homicide rate.
The homicide rate can affect the city and province's rankings in other areas.
"I think every time there is a murder it has a profound impact, sometimes on generations," he said. "Any crime, even a lower-level crime, is cause for concern."

Statisticians use a system called the crime severity index (CSI) to show how crime impacts a city or province. The system was introduced last year and measures not only the number of crimes, but the seriousness of those offences, so an offence like a bicycle theft doesn't equate with a murder. The report says there were 443,000 violent incidents across Canada in 2009, or about one in five offences.
The report said Manitoba has the highest violent-crime severity in Canada, increasing 10 per cent in 2009, driven by a surge in robberies.
Winnipeg also had a 15 per cent increase in violent crime severity, meaning it has the most severe violent crime of any city of 100,000 people or more.
For Progressive Conservative justice critic Kelvin Goertzen, the report is full of "bad news" he deems a "shocking disappointment."
The report also said in 2009, Winnipeg had the highest rate of robbery in Canada, up 26 per cent. Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen acknowledged some of the report's findings are "frustrating" for officers.
"When we're always focusing in on significant incidents, like stabbings, serious assaults, homicides, and so forth, it does place a significant impact on our resources," said Michalyshen.
However, he pointed out there have been 10 homicides so far this year in the city compared with 16 at the same time last year. And Statistics Canada said violent crimes like homicide, serious assaults and sexual assaults declined across Canada in 2009.
The report also noted Winnipeg is no longer the auto theft capital of Canada, after Brantford, Ont. claimed the dubious honour.
In fact, the report said Winnipeg saw the largest decline -- 25 per cent -- in the rate of motor vehicle theft in 2009.
The report is based on information collected by police services across the country from January to December 2009.

Among the lowlights

Manitoba has had the highest homicide rate in Canada three years running
Winnipeg has the third-highest homicide rate in Canada, behind Abbotsford-Mission and Thunder Bay
Winnipeg has the third-highest crime severity index (CSI) of Canadian cities, behind Saskatoon and Regina
Winnipeg has the highest violent CSI of all Canadian cities, as does Manitoba among Canadian provinces
Winnipeg has the highest rate of robbery in Canada
-- Source: Statistics Canada

Imprisoning more individuals for longer periods will not solve the crime problem. It has proven in research to not reduce, prevent or deter crime effectively. Prison is a quick fix, not a long term solution. We need to focus more on crime prevention, social programming and rehabilitation. We also need to combat the gang problem in Winnipeg, through gang desistance programs, reducing unemployment, reducing poverty, more mental health services, addictions treatments and better access to education for those living in the downtown and west end regions. This violent crime is almost all tied to gangs and drugs and poverty. We must combat those problems, and prison does not accomplish that effectively. We need better employment services and assistance for those living in poverty. Getting tough on crime does not address the causes of crime and fails to reform or rehabilitate individuals. 

I liked this comment on the Free Press site:
"It and Nunavut are the only Canadian territories or provinces to report an increase in crime severity."

By "it" do you mean Manitoba? Because that is not so.

"Crime severity was down in virtually all provinces. The largest decline was reported in Manitoba, where the Police-reported Crime Severity Index (PRCSI) was down 14%."

Taken from the Stats Canada website.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/090721/dq090721a-eng.htm

Manitoba was still one of the highest, but at least it's improving. Even Winnipeg had a decrease of 10% in crime severity.

Read the link, it's very informative.

This article is fundamentally flawed.

The headline and substance are based on the Crime Severity Index (CSI).

It describes the CSI as, "Satisticians use a system called the crime severity index (CSI) to show how crime impacts a city or province. The system was introduced last year and measures not only the number of crimes, but the seriousness of those offences, so an offence like a bicycle theft doesn't equate with a murder. "

The CSI _does not_ measure the number of crimes. The CSI measures the length of the sentence given to individuals for offences committed. That is how the "seriousness of the offence" is measured.

This is a very important distinction, it is substantively different than the number of offences.

From the Statistics Canada website:

"In the calculation of the police-reported CSI, each offence is assigned a weight, derived from sentences handed down by criminal courts. The more serious the average sentence, the higher the weight for that offence."

So, the CSI is influenced by the length of the sentence given for an offence.

This being the case, it is possible that the high rating in Manitoba could be a result of tougher sentences being handed out.

If, as many have argued, our high CSI rate is due to our high Aboriginal population; and given that people from that community are more likely to receive longer sentences - then our rate, or course, will be higher.

Regardless of the root cause - this article is fundamentally flawed. 

Winnipeg's top two mayoral candidates have similar ideas about alleviating the city's continuing crime problem -- except when it comes to questions of deterrence and prevention.
In the wake of another depressing report from Statistics Canada, incumbent Mayor Sam Katz and challenger Judy Wasylycia-Leis say the Winnipeg Police Service must deploy its resources more effectively and work more closely with community groups, while the city must do more to support youth programming as an alternative to gang membership.
Katz said Tuesday in an interview Winnipeg's forthcoming police helicopter and cadet program will allow the service to marshall its resources more effectively. In a separate interview, Wasylycia-Leis said she supports police Chief Keith McCaskill's ongoing efforts to free up officers from court and other administrative duties.
Both Katz and Wasylycia-Leis said inner-city community centres and social-welfare organizations deserve more city support because they help keep youths out of gangs.
But the small-C conservative mayor and the former NDP MP disagree about the best way to prevent crime.
Katz wants Ottawa and Manitoba to beef up criminal justice legislation -- and accused Wasylycia-Leis of standing in the way of federal Conservative efforts to enforce existing laws.
"We are living in a society where individuals believe they can get away with violent crimes, and the way laws are enforced, they're correct," Katz said.
In response, Wasylycia-Leis challenged Katz to name a single case where she voted against a piece of Tory legislation that "would have ensured the punishment fit the crime."
The former Winnipeg North MP said Katz is trying to escape blame for a worsening Winnipeg crime situation by shifting the focus to Ottawa.
"This is obviously a much bigger problem than tougher penalties and more jails," she said. "Cities can do something. It's not all about federal law."
Katz, however, insisted he has done more to combat crime since Winnipeg was dubbed Canada's murder capital during the Glen Murray administration.
Auto theft rates have plummeted since he took office in 2004 and McCaskill -- hired in late 2007 -- is only beginning to make the Winnipeg Police Service run more effectively, the mayor said.
"Meaningful change does not take place overnight," Katz said.

Crime prevention must include: programs for youth, reducing poverty, more employment assistance and services to low income families, better access to education, more rehabilitation programs, and reintegration programs. 

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