Crime and justice

Description:

Cyber-crime is a global problem that in many instances transcends national borders. Historically, compiling meaningful statistics about this activity has been difficult because of the reluctance on the part of victims to report these offences to police. However, because of the financial losses sustained, an increasing number of these crimes are being reported to police. As a result, federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as the police community, are interested in analyzing national trends on cyber-crime and their impact on Canadians.

In response to this need for information, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) conducted a Special Study to examine the issues and data sources related to cyber-crime and to investigate the feasibility of collecting quantitative data from police services in Canada. This report examines definitions of cyber-crime, current legislation in Canada and other countries, existing data sources, summarizes results from consultations with selected police forces, and presents options for collecting cyber-crime data from police agencies.

Description:

This issue of Juristat examines how much is being spent to operate the justice system in Canada. Trends in spending and personnel are discussed for policing, courts, legal aid, criminal prosecutions, and corrections. The report data come from several sources, including the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics' resource, Statistics Canada's Financial Management System, and expenditure and personnel surveys. The data cover the period up to 2000-2001.

Description:

The Adult Correctional Services Survey (ACSS) collects annual aggregate data from all jurisdictions on the delivery of adult correctional services from both the provincial, territorial and federal correctional systems. Key themes include the average daily counts of adults in custodial facilities, including remand, as well as monthly counts of probationers; and new admissions (commencements) to correctional programs of sentenced custody, probation, conditional sentences and other community-based programs. The survey also captures information on conditional releases to the community, including parole and statutory release. In addition, the survey collects information on the financial and human resources involved in the delivery of adult correctional services. While trends are presented for the key units of count, the reference period for this release is 2000-2001.

Description:

In January 1999, the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) received a commitment of four years funding from the federal government's Policy Research Initiative (PRI) to conduct a study on hate crime in Canada. The purpose of the overall study is to enhance our understanding of hate crime and to assess the feasibility of collecting police-reported hate crime statistics in Canada. In 2001, the CCJS released a report entitled "Hate crime in Canada: an overview of issues and data sources", catalogue no. 85-551-XIE.

This report helped to address some questions regarding the nature and magnitude of hate crimes in Canada, although certain data gaps were identified. As a result, it was determined that a pilot survey should be conducted with police departments that collect hate crime statistics. In order to determine specific information needs for the pilot survey, consultations were held with a number of academics; members of various non-governmental and community organizations; and federal and provincial departments responsible for the administration of justice, as well as police departments.

The information contained in this report provides a summary of the consultations that were held between September 2001 and March 2002.

Description:

The Juristat publication, "Pilot analysis of recidivism among convicted youth and young adults, 1999/00," summarizes trends from the provincial/territorial courts across Canada that provided data to the Adult Criminal Court Survey (ACCS) and the Youth Court Survey (YCS). This report attempts to gauge the prevalence of recidivism in young adults by examining the conviction histories of young adults convicted in Canadian criminal courts in 1999-2000. It also examines the transition from youth to adult offending, including patterns of re-offending, differences in conviction histories by age of onset and the impact of conviction history on court sentencing.

Description:

This Juristat presents and analyzes information on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, and open) and probation, and key case characteristics such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status, and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody, and open custody by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented and analyzed at the national and provincial/territorial level.

Alternative measures refer to formalized programs across Canada through which persons who would otherwise proceed to court are dealt with via non-judicial sanctions. An analysis on alternative measures includes data pertaining to the participation and agreement by the youth to enter these community-based alternatives. The key case characteristics of this survey are similar to those collected by the Youth Custody and Community Services survey.

The Youth Key Indicators describe average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Data summarized in this Juristat are primarily drawn from three perspectives: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) survey. The scope of the survey is to collect and analyze information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Alternative Measures survey, which collects and analyzes data on the number of agreements achieved and completed. And, 3) The Youth Key Indicator Report that measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation.

Description:

This publication presents data on young offender admissions to custody and community services, with breakdowns by custody (remand, secure, open) and probation, and key case characteristics, such as age, sex, Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal status and most serious offence. In addition, it includes data pertaining to releases from remand, secure custody and open custody, by sex and time served. These breakdowns are presented at the national and provincial/territorial levels.

Data presented in this publication are drawn from two primary sources: 1) The Youth Custody and Community Services (YCCS) Survey. The objective of this survey is to collect and analyse information on the application of dispositions under the Young Offenders Act from provincial and territorial agencies responsible for youth corrections and programs. 2) The Youth Key Indicator Report (YKIR). This survey measures the average counts of youth in custody (remand, secure and open) and on probation. The YKIR describes average daily counts (caseload), which measure the volume of offenders held in custody or on probation on an average day at month-end. This information also provides an examination of youth incarceration and probation rates in Canada.

Description:

Recognizing that there is the need for better information and statistics on organized crime, and for methodologies to measure its impact on Canadians, the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice have endorsed a plan to begin addressing Canada's data gap in the area of organized crime.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics was contracted by the Solicitor General of Canada to investigate the feasibility of collecting quantitative data on organized crime. This report highlights the lessons learned during consultations with selected police intelligence units and it presents a number of options for data collection.

Description:

This annual report is an examination of homicide in Canada. Detailed information is presented on the characteristics of homicide incidents (murder, manslaughter and infanticide), and, within the context of both short and long-term trends, the victims and accused. Geographical patterns of homicide are examined at the national and provincial/territorial levels, as well as for major metropolitan areas. Other key themes include international comparisons of homicide, gang-related homicides, firearm-related homicides, youth homicide and family (including spousal) homicides. The data are intended to respond to the needs of those who work in the criminal justice system, as well as to inform researchers, policy analysts, academics, the media and the public on the nature and extent of homicide in Canada.

Description:

This paper discusses in detail issues dealing with the technical aspects of designing and conducting surveys. It is intended for an audience of survey methodologists.

Police records collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program are the leading source of national crime statistics. Recently, audits to correct UCR records have raised concerns as to how to handle the errors discovered in these files. Concerns centre around the methodology used to detect errors and the procedures used to correct errors once they have been discovered. This paper explores these concerns, focusing on sampling methodology, establishment of a statistical-adjustment factor, and alternative solutions. The paper distinguishes the difference between sample adjustment and sample estimates of an agency's data, and recommends sample adjustment as the most accurate way of dealing with errors.

Description: Preliminary quarterly key indicator percentage change (year-over-year) on adult criminal courts and youth courts, by offence and sex of accused, for all reporting provinces and territories.

Description: Preliminary quarterly key indicator results and year-over-year absolute change (refers to the simple difference in the indicator over two periods of time (new-old)) for adult criminal courts and youth courts, by offence and sex of accused, for all reporting provinces and territories.

Description: This dashboard presents key indicators for preliminary quarterly data on adult criminal and youth courts, by offence and sex of the accused, Canada, provinces and territories.

Description: Annual admissions (number, percent) to residential facilities for victims of abuse, by resident type and area density, Canada, Province or territory, reference year.

Description: One day snapshot of residents (number, percent) in residential facilities for victims of abuse, by reason for seeking shelter, Canada, Province or territory, reference year.

Description: One day snapshot of women and accompanying children (number, percent) residing in residential facilities for victims of abuse compared with individuals living in Canada, by selected characteristics, Canada, Province or territory, reference year.

Description: One day snapshot of women and accompanying children (number, percent, rate per 100,000) residing in residential facilities for victims of abuse, by age group, Canada, region, reference year.

Description: One day snapshot of women (percent) residing in residential facilities for victims of abuse, by type of abuse experienced, Canada, Province or territory, reference year.

Description: One day snapshot of women (number, percent) residing in residential facilities for victims of abuse, by relationship of abuser to the adult female, Canada, Province or territory, reference year.

Description: Percent of residential facilities for victims of abuse offering selected services, Canada, region, reference year.

Description:

Providing effective treatment and rehabilitation of young offenders and ensuring the safety of Canadian communities are primary objectives of the youth justice system. Increasingly, this system has felt the pressure of public and media scrutiny. The recent parliamentary review and the media have focused on the most serious criminal events involving youths. The Youth Court Survey, through the collection and dissemination of youth court information, assists policy-makers and program managers as they struggle to redefine the nature of Canada's youth justice system. The Youth Court Survey provides data to monitor the current practice of the courts to deal with youths, aged 12 to 17 at the time of the offence, in the criminal justice system. This Juristat provides information on the nature and volume of cases processed by the youth courts of Canada, on accused characteristics, and on case outcomes during the 1995-96 fiscal year (April to March). National caseload trends are also included.

Description:

This report is an examination of crime data reported to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) survey during 1996. The data are presented within the context of both short and long term trends. Every year since 1962, Canada's police agencies have reported incidents that come to their attention to the UCR survey. Analyses in this report focus on trends in violent crime, property crime, impaired driving offences, drug offences and yotuth crime. Crime rates are examined at the national, provincial/territorial and major metropolitan levels. The trend in Canada's crime rate is put into perspective by comparing it with trends in police-reported crime form the United States and England and Wales. Also, comparisons between Canadian crime statistics and results from a recent victimization survey are drawn. Specific types of violent crime such as "home- invasions", wife assault and violent incidents involving weapons continue to be a concern to Canadians. Due to limits in the way crime statistics are collected from Canada's police agencies, it has traditionally been difficults to measure these areas. While national statistics are still unavailable, this Juristat will, for the first time, present trends for these crimes as reported by a sample of police agencies from 1993 to 1996.

Description:

Homicide tends to receive more media attention and consequently closer public scrutiny than any other criminal act. The act itself, especially if cruel in nature or targeting defenceless members of society, promotes fear in the general public. Despite a growing concern among Canadians about threats of attack or violence, the homicide rate has gradually been declining since the mid 1970s.

Description:

This Juristat examines the extent to which weapons, such as guns, knives and blunt objects, are used in violent crimes. In order to understand the prevalence of violent crime in general, the first section provides a brief explanation of the trends over time in Canada, while the second section of this Juristat provides a snapshot of the use of weapons in violent crime in 1995. The final section more specifically examines the national trends in weapon use in the crimes of homicide and robbery since 1975, with a particular focus upon the use of firearms.

Description:

The purpose of this report is to reduce the level of confusion arising from the use of crime data originating from two very different sources (i.e., the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey - UCR and the General Social Survey - GSS) and to inform discussions about which is the better measure of crime. It explains why the findings based on these data sources diverge and summarizes the major differences between the two surveys.

Description:

This Juristat examines data from the Adult Corrections Survey (ACS) and provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the adult prison population, operating costs, charge and offence information, sentencing data, and community supervision services. The findings reported here are provided in greater detail in the annual report Adult Correctional Services in Canada, 1995-96(Catalogue 85-211-XPB).

Description:

This juristat answers questions about the relative cost of justice services within the context of total government spending, and examines changes in spending patterns over time. In addition, financial profiles are provided for six major justice services: policing, courts, adult corrections, youth corrections, legal aid, and prosecutions. Some of the initiatives underway to give taxpayers more efficient and effective services are also discussed.

Description:

This Juristat deals with prostitution-related crime in Canada, that is, communicating, procuring and bawdy-house offences (see Prostitution in the Criminal Code). Incidents reported during the 1977-1995 period are examined, with a focus on recent years. A wide variety of data and other information sources dealing with street prostitution have been consulted to provide a multi-faceted look at these activities.

Description:

The purpose of this document is to provide a picture of the most recent sentencing trends in Canadian adult provincial courts. Several issues can be explored using the aggregate statistics found in this data base. First, what percentage of all convictions result in a sentence of imprisonment? Many commissions of inquiry as well as the federal government have noted the need to develop more alternatives to imprisonment, in order to reduce Canada's reliance on incarceration as a sanction. Second, what kinds of sanctions are associated with various offences? Third, are sentences proportional in their severity to the seriousness of the crimes for which they are imposed? The principle of proportionality in the use of punishment lies at the heart of the sentencing system in Canada. The recently enacted sentencing reform Bill, declared that "A sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the offender". Fourth, what kinds of offences attract non-custodial sanctions such as probation and fines?

Description:

The intent of this Juristat is to present police and court data on criminal harassment that are currently available from Statistics Canada's Revised Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey and Adult Criminal Court Survey (ACCS). As the legislation is relatively new, this report is a first attempt at producing a detailed analysis of criminal harassment data. The statistics in this report provide only a partial picture of criminal harassment in Canada and are not nationally representative. As such, the analysis will focus on the nature of incidents rather than the extent. Please refer to the Methodology section for more details on the data sources.

Description:

The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) is an area-based index which uses Census of Population microdata to measure four key dimensions of deprivation at the dissemination area (DA)-level: residential instability, economic dependency, situational vulnerability and ethno-cultural composition. The CIMD allows for an understanding of inequalities in various measures of health and social well-being. While it is a geographically-based index of deprivation and marginalization, it can also be used as a proxy for an individual. The CIMD has the potential to be widely used by researchers on a variety of topics related to socio-economic research. Other uses for the index may include: policy planning and evaluation, or resource allocation.

Description: The Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) is an area-based index which uses Census of Population microdata to measure four key dimensions of deprivation at the dissemination area (DA)-level: residential instability, economic dependency, situational vulnerability and ethno-cultural composition.

The CIMD allows for an understanding of inequalities in various measures of health and social well-being. While it is a geographically-based index of deprivation and marginalization, it can also be used as a proxy for an individual. The CIMD has the potential to be widely used by researchers on a variety of topics related to socio-economic research. Other uses for the index may include: policy planning and evaluation, or resource allocation.

Description:

The User Guide for the Canadian Index of Multiple Deprivation (CIMD) outlines uses for the index, as well as it provides a brief description of the methodology behind the development of the index. This User Guide also provides instructions on how to use the index, and lists considerations when using the CIMD data.

Description:

This objective of this report is to present the status of national data on Aboriginal people who come into contact with the criminal justice system as offenders and victims. The report examines the current and potential collection of an individual's Aboriginal identity through various justice-related surveys at Statistics Canada, the challenges within these surveys to collect these data and provides some insight into the quality of these data. The data and sources are examined within the context of information needs for the justice and social policy sectors, and in relation to the preferred method of measuring Aboriginal Identity at Statistics Canada. Data sources examined include the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the Homicide Survey, the Integrated Criminal Courts Survey, the Adult Corrections Survey, the Youth Custody and Community Services Survey, the Youth Alternative Measures Survey, the Transition Home Survey, the Victim Services Survey and the General Social Survey on Victimization. Finally, the report briefly describes efforts by other countries to improve justice-related information on their indigenous populations.

Description:

This report presents a description of the organization and operation of provincial and territorial maintenance enforcement programs. It describes the relevant provincial legislation, highlights latest developments, provides a general description of each program, describes how each manages cases, intake/withdrawal procedures, tracing, monitoring, payment processing and enforcement practices. As such, the reader will be able to identify the variations and similarities between the various programs. All of the maintenance enforcement programs rely upon several federal acts to collect, trace and enforce support payments. Therefore, a review of the relevant federal legislation is presented first, followed by a description of each provincial and territorial maintenance enforcement program.

Description:

This publication describes the structure and administration of provincial/territorial legal aid services in Canada. It also includes information on legislation, organization, coverage, eligibility, duty counsel and tariffs.

Description:

This publication includes a list of federal and provincial courts across the country. The purpose of this directory is to identify all courts (permanent and most frequently visited circuit points) in Canada by type, level, and location.

Description: The purpose of this survey is to collect education related financial data on all reform and correctional institutions in Canada. These data are used to supplement data collected from the Provincial Public Accounts on provincial expenditures on education.

Description: The purpose of the Police Administration Survey (PAS) is to collect statistics on public policing personnel and expenditures from municipal, provincial and federal police services in Canada. The information collected is used by federal and provincial policy makers, individual police services as well as officials responsible for police budgets. The data are also used by the media for the purpose of providing information to the general public.

Description: The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey was designed to measure the incidence of crime in Canadian society and its characteristics. The information is used by federal and provincial policy makers as well as public and private researchers.