Lecture 4

Question 1

Trend in Canadian hate crime stats

Answer 1

• The number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased by 27% in 2021
• This marks the largest number of police-reported hate crimes recorded since comparable data became available in 2009

Question 2

In total, police-reported hate crimes have increased __ over the last two years

Answer 2

72%

Question 3

Most hate crimes are

Answer 3

property crimes

Question 4

Difficulties of counting crime

Answer 4

• Not all criminal behaviour is reported to police.
• Only a fraction of that which is reported results in a police record of a crime.
• Only a portion of that which is recorded results in the identification of a suspect.
• Only a portion of suspects are located, arrested, and charged.
• Only a portion of charges result in convictions.
• Only a portion of convictions result in incarceration.

Question 5

The funnel analogy

Answer 5

• Using a funnel analogy, we can think about how more criminal behaviour enters the justice system than makes it through the entire system
• A lot of incidents are lost through the process

Question 6

Features of the Uniform Crime Reports

Answer 6

• Most common crime measure world-wide.
• UCR data is considered to be a measure of crimes know to the police.
• Began in 1962 and has grown more sophisticated over time

Question 7

The UCR includes

Answer 7

both crimes reported to the police and once discovered by police while on patrol or upon investigation.

Question 8

Limitations of the UCR– underreporting

Answer 8

• Occurs when the public is aware of, or suspects that, an offense has taken place but fails to report it to the police.
• That which is not brought to the attention of police cannot be counted as a crime.

Question 9

Limitations of the UCR– overreporting

Answer 9

• Occurs when the public reports having been a victim of crime when in fact they have not been.
• Over reporting can distort crime data.

Question 10

Limitations of the UCR– overly broad

Answer 10

• Many crimes under one category which skew our perception of what is going on
• Ex. attempted theft and thefts are both considered “thefts” in the UCR

Question 11

Limitations of the UCR– police discretion

Answer 11

Crimes are subject to police interpretation and police definitions

Question 12

Limitations of the UCR– multiple offences

Answer 12

When multiple offences are committed at once, only the most serious of the offence gets recorded

Question 13

Why would someone not report a hate crime?

Answer 13

• Internalization
• Brushing off, ex. assuming someone’s crazy or saying it’s just part of being in a particular context
• Immigration or refugee status
• Some may believe police may not do anything about it
• Don’t want to get involved or don’t want to get police involved
• Perceptions of the criminal justice system as time consuming or costly
• Some may struggle to admit something happened to them
• Fear of reprisals
• Language barriers
• Some individuals may not realize they’ve been a victim of a hate crime
• Previous negative experiences with police

Question 14

Policing sensitivity– screening

Answer 14

Police decide how to answer a call when it comes in, and how they will respond to it

Question 15

Policing sensitivity– officer discretion

Answer 15

police decide whether to lay a charge or to dispose of the incident in another way

Question 16

Policing sensitivity– likelihood of conviction

Answer 16

Police may decide not to pursue a charge if they believe conviction is unlikely

Question 17

Policing sensitivity– resources

Answer 17

Police departments do not always deploy resources evenly across the area they police

Question 18

Policing sensitivity– treatment of crime

Answer 18

Not all crimes are viewed and treated the same way

Question 19

Policing sensitivity– organizational objectives

Answer 19

• Organizational objectives may affect the way police departments, police.
• For example, pressure to show that crime rates are decreasing may lead police departments to attempt to manipulate statistics by failing to report crime, or downgrade serious crimes to less serious offenses.

Question 20

Definition sensitivity

Answer 20

Changes to the way we define crime can change the way law is enforced, how crime is reported and whether the law is applied

Question 21

Behaviour sensitivity

Answer 21

• Changes in where and how offenses take place can affect how likely they are to be detected.
• E.g. if illicit drug use takes place in a more or less visible location, it changes the likelihood of detection.

Question 22

Other measures of hate crime– the General Social Survey

Answer 22

A program designed to collect information on social trends and is composed of different surveys and is administered every 5 years (a victimization survey is also included in the GSS).

Question 23

Victimization survey

Answer 23

Tools designed to capture the amount of crime occurring in society by asking people about their experiences of victimization.