Chapter 4

Question 1

What is the Official Crime Reporting system?

Answer 1

Generates reliable crime statistics. Standard definitions of offences using Uniform Crime reporting manual. Since 1982, data submitted to Stats Canada on a monthly basis. Routinely published juristat bulletin about crime stats and aspects of the criminal justice system

Question 2

What is included in the Aggregate UCR Survey?

Answer 2

Records the number of incidents reported by police and includes the number of reported offences, the number of actual offences, the number of offences cleared by charge, the number of adults charged, the number of youths charged, and the gender of those charged. Does not include victim characteristics.

Question 3

Why has the aggregate UCR survey been criticized?

Answer 3

Criticized for being less useful for analytic purposes than information based on characteristics of the individual.

Question 4

Explain the Incident Based UCR Survey

Answer 4

Collected incident based data rather than summary data, and thus allowed for better analyses of crime trends. Added information on victim’s age, information on the accused, and information on the circumstances of the incident.

Question 5

What are the factors affecting police reported crime rates?

Answer 5

• the only crimes recorded are those that are actually reported to the police
• demographics
• public reporting rates to the police can depend on public tolerance for certain crimes and victim expectations of how police will handle the complaint.
• legislative changes
• social and economic factors
• technological changes

Question 6

What are the limitations and weaknesses of UCR?

Answer 6

1. Police discretion plays a role
2. Large amount of unreported crime
3. only the most serious crime included in UCR
4. Misrepresents the crime rate. Increase with corresponding decrease
5. Problems with how the incidents are recorded
6. Standardized rates are not always a reflection of risk

Question 7

What are the benefits of victimization surveys?

Answer 7

1. help estimate unrecorded crime
2. help explain why victims do not report crimes to police
3. provide information about the impact of crime on victims
4. identify populations at risk

Question 8

Self report surveys

Answer 8

Used by criminologists, not necessarily the police. Examine the subject’s attitudes, beliefs and values as well as the crime the subject is involved in.

Question 9

Ethnographic research

Answer 9

asks people if they were involved in criminal activity during a certain time period. Conducted as a type of field research.

Question 10

What are the crimes against the person?

Answer 10

Homicide, sexual assault, assault, robbery, criminal harrassment and forcible confinement

Question 11

What are the crimes against property?

Answer 11

breaking and entering, theft, and motor vehicle theft

Question 12

Homicide

Answer 12

When a person directly or indirectly, by any means, causes the death of a human being. Remains relatively constant:
- 1.45 homicides per 100,000 population
- 1.74 attempted homicides per 100,000 population (lowest rate since 1971
Methods used to commit homicide
- stabbings (40%)
- shootings (27%)
- beatings (21%)
Victims and offenders knew each other in 87% of homicides.

Question 13

Sexual Assault trends

Answer 13

Police recorded sexual assaults in 2014:
- 5.5% of all violent crimes
- majority level 1 sexual assault
- rates of all 3 levels decreased.
Police data underestimates sexual assault rates. 2009 GSS data shows only 1 in 10 sexual assaults are reported to police.
For every 1,000 incidents 33 are reported, 12 result in charges, 6 go to trial and 3 lead to conviction

Question 14

Assault trends

Answer 14

Males are more likely to be victims of assault. Most likely perps were strangers, the most common location of the incident was at a commercial establishment, and assault was more likely to be reported when physical injury occured.

Question 15

What are the three levels of assault?

Answer 15

Common assault (level 1)
Assault with weapon (level 2)
Aggravated assault (level 3)

Question 16

Trends on robbery

Answer 16

Robbery rate has been declining yearly and over the last two decades. The rate of robbery decreased by 39% from 2004-14

Question 17

Trends of harrassment/stalking

Answer 17

5% of violent crimes (2014)
19,653 incidents reported to police. 10% decrease compared to 2013. The number of incidents for adolescent women continually increased throughout their teenage years. 76% of criminal harassment victims are female. 45% of female victims harrassed by a former sexual partner. Most criminal harassment occurs in a residential area, while 4% occurs at university.

Question 18

Trends of forcible confinement

Answer 18

Typically involves other offences. Three primary situation:
1. individual held by spouse or partner.
2. Disputes between friends
3. robberies or break and enters.
Forcible confinement rate has drastically increased over the last two decades

Question 19

Trends of crimes against property

Answer 19

Most crimes (61%) reported to police in 2014 were property crimes. Crimes committed with the intent to acquire property without violence or the threat of violence.

Question 20

What are the most common crimes against property?

Answer 20

1. theft under $5,000
2. mischief
3. break and enter
4. fraud

Question 21

What are considered the “other” criminal offences?

Answer 21

Counterfeiting, weapons offences, child pornography, disturbing the peace, administration of justice violations, and prostitution

Question 22

2014 “other” crime trends

Answer 22

18% of police recorded crime

• the annual rate of other criminal code offences declined, especially prostitution and counterfeiting offences
• small annual decreases in administration of justice offences
• the only other offences to increase annually were terrorism and child pornography offences.

Question 23

Whitecollar crime

Answer 23

Crimes of fraud carried out during the courses of a seemingly legitimate and high status occupation

Question 24

What are the two general categories of white collar crime?

Answer 24

Occupational crime (employee crime for personal advantage) and corporate crime (employee criminal activity benefits company)

Question 25

What is cybercrime?

Answer 25

A criminal offence involving a computer as the object of the crime, or the tool used to commit a material component of the offence

Question 26

What are the two categories of cybercrime?

Answer 26

Technology as a target and technology as an instrument

Question 27

Consistent trends of cybercrime

Answer 27

• accused identified in 21% of all cybercrimes
• most accused offenders are male (76%)
• most victims are female (70%), 17 years old (42%), knew the accused (73%)

Question 28

What are the two different types of homicide?

Answer 28

Culpable- first degree murder, second degree or manslaughter

Non-culpable- suicide, deaths caused by criminal negligence, accident or justifiable homicide (self defense)