Crime rates decrease as spending on crime prevention increases







Statistics Canada reported a 3% decrease in crime rates during 2012, which continues a downward trend which sees national crime rates being the lowest since 1972.  In Statistics Canada’s last report on crime rates in 2012, they noted the trend was one that continued to decrease.

 

 "The police-reported crime rate has followed a downward trend, and, in 2012, reached its lowest level since 1972.

 

Another area in which statisticians saw a decrease was in the severity of crimes themselves. When calculating the severity of a crime, Statistics Canada uses what they call a Crime Severity index, or CSI.

 

The CSI measures the severity of a crime based on the length of sentences, with longer sentences meaning greater severity of crimes. The 2012 Statistics Canada report notes that CSI has also seen a significant decrease.

 

"The CSI was down 28 per cent over the 10 years since 2002,” the report stated.

 

Despite statistics which show a clear decline in both the occurrence of crimes, and the severity of them, the federal government continues to spend billions of dollars on initiatives to tackle crime, allocating money both federally, as well as provincially to the tune of 20.3 billion dollars in 2011-2012, according to a Parliamentary budget office report released in March of this year.

 

The Harper government has made crime one of its major focus areas, and with the introduction of the much contested Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, which passed in March of last year, changes took place in the Canadian justice system which some argue will end up costing tax-payers more money in the end- such as mandatory minimum sentences, fewer conditional sentences, and a harsher approach towards young offenders. 

 

All of these policies increase the chances  of more people being incarcerated, and increase the chance of young people being institutionalized, without receiving rehabilitation.

 

With yet another report released showcasing decreasing crime rates, isn’t it time the government listened, and allocated money to other areas? 


Comments

There are 0 comments on this post

Leave A Comment