Resources

The links below are provided for research purposes.  The views expressed in these reports are those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Government of British Columbia.

Some of the reports are in Portable Document Format [PDF].  You will need Adobe Reader to open them.

Reports

• Addressing Inefficiencies in the Criminal Justice Process: A Preliminary Review
  Addressing Inefficiencies in the Criminal Justice Process: A Preliminary Review (PDF/276KB) was prepared for the Criminal Justice Reform Secretariat by the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy in 2009. It examines key issues, promising practices, and possible initiatives for improving the efficiency of British Columbia's criminal justice system. The Executive Summary (PDF/219KB) provides an overview of the full report.

• Concern with Leniency:
  An Examination of Sentencing Patterns in British Columbia
  Commissioned by the Government of British Columbia,
  Concern with Leniency (PDF/894KB) examines sentencing patterns in B.C. The study was carried out by Dr. Anthony Doob of the University of Toronto and Dr. Cheryl Marie Webster of the University of Ottawa, and is the first report of its kind in Canada.

  The authors developed five measures of comparison to investigate the belief sentences in British Columbia are more lenient than elsewhere in Canada, and conclude sentences in B.C are not more lenient overall than other provinces.

Best Practices

• Communities That Care: Toolkit
  Communities That Care (CTC) is a research-based conceptual framework used to guide communities in selecting the most effective policies, actions and programs to promote youth development. It does this by targeting the unique risk and protection needs of each community such as risk factors for delinquency, school failure, substance abuse, school dropout and teen pregnancy.  A CTC program has been active in Squamish  since 1998 and programs are being piloted in Williams Lake and Anahim Lake.  Guides, surveys, strategies and other resources for establishing a CTC program where you live are available for free on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website .

• ICURS Community Study: Community Survey Handbook
  Prepared for the Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies (ICURS) in 2008, the Community Survey Handbook (PDF/1.4MB) is a step-by-step guide on how to conduct a survey to understand both what people enjoy and what they find troubling about their neighbourhood.  The survey results give a clear picture about the quality of life of residents, visitors and others.

  If you are interested in conducting a community survey, please see this sample survey (PDF/291KB) as well as the 1997  (PDF/298KB) and 2007  (PDF/2MB) survey results from the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood of Vancouver (Commercial Drive) conducted by the Grandview-Woodland Community Policing Centre .

• Community Crime Prevention Guide

  In 2008, the Community Crime Prevention Guide (PDF/1.4MB) was developed by the Law Courts Education Society  with a grant from the Criminal Justice Reform Secretariat.  The guide assists communities to develop approaches to crime prevention and reduction that suit local concerns and issues.  The guide provides advice on developing community crime prevention action plans, criteria for evaluating a plan’s success, sources of financial and other support for crime prevention projects, and other related information.

• Making Cities Safer: Canadian strategies and practices

  Making Cities Safer (PDF/1MB) examines challenges facing 14 Canadian municipalities in implementing evidence-based crime prevention strategies.  It also identifies guiding principles all levels of government could follow that would assist municipalities in increasing community safety.  The report was written by the Institute for the Prevention of Crime at the University of Ottawa and was published in 2008.

• Evidence-based Crime Prevention:

  Scientific Basis, Trends, Results and Implications for Canada
  Written for Public Safety Canada , this report (PDF/535KB) argues scientific, instead of anecdotal, evidence is necessary to understand whether a crime prevention strategy is effective.  It also provides examples of strategies proven to work and not to work.  It was published in 2007.

• Compendium of Promising Crime Prevention Practices in Canada

  Published in 2003 by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy in partnership with the Government Canada, this report (PDF/683MB) outlines promising crime prevention strategies used in communities across Canada.

Statistics

• General Social Survey

  The General Social Survey (GSS) gathers data on social trends to monitor the well‑being of Canadians and provide information on specific policy issues.  Surveys in 1988 (Cycle 3) , 1993 (Cycle 8) , 1999 (Cycle 13) and 2004 (Cycle 18) dealt with criminal victimization.  The GSS is conducted by Statistics Canada .

• Uniform Crime Reporting Survey

  The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR) measures crime and its characteristics in Canadian society.  Statistics Canada conducts the UCR.

• Juristat

  Produced by Statistics Canada, Juristat are periodic reports analyzing various aspects of Canada’s justice system.  Past Juristat reports have addressed homicide, weapons and violent crimes, adult criminal court statistics and children and youth as victims of violent crime among other issues.

• Statistics Canada: Crime and Justice Tables

  The Crime and Justice Tables are data on crime, victimization and corrections, and other data related to the justice system.

• Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview

  Published by Public Safety Canada (PDF/787KB), these reports outline crime, corrections and conditional release trends in Canada in 2004 (PDF/2.8MB), 2006 (PDF/524KB) and 2007 (PDF/787KB) and 2008 (PDF/444KB).

• Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Profile Series

  The Series analyzes issues concerning victimization, offending and public perceptions of crime and the justice system.  It uses data from the General Social Survey (GSS) and other sources.  The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is part of Statistics Canada.

• British Columbia Crime Statistics

  Based on the national Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR), the British Columbia Crime Statistics show crime trends over a ten-year span and are updated annually.

• The 2007 National Justice Survey:

  Tackling Crime and Public Confidence
  Prepared by the Department of Justice, the 2007 National Justice Survey seeks to understand public confidence in the criminal justice system, solicit the public’s attitudes towards criminal justice policies and to know the relationship between justice policy and public confidence.  Data for this survey was collected by the private polling firm Environics.

• International Crime Victim Surveys

  Begun in 1987, the International Crime Victim surveys produce estimates of victimisation that can be used for international comparison.  The next survey (ICVS-6) is scheduled for 2009 and will be led by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, the British Home Office and the United Nations.

• Indicators of Well-being in Canada

  Developed with data from Statistics Canada, international organizations and private polling companies, Human Resources and Social Development Canada’s Indicators of Well-being site includes crime and victimization data in its “Security” section.