Stats Can - Crime in Canada drops again. - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Bobblehead · 07-21-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

A new study says police-reported crime continued to decline in 2008.

Statistics Canada reports that both the traditional crime rate and its Crime Severity Index fell five per cent last year. The agency says that means both the volume of police-reported crime and its severity decreased.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...VQNpV9O97anQ2g

So even though it may seem like the world is a more dangerous place today than when we were kids, please keep the real statistics in mind.

And feel safe eating in Asian restaurants again.

Edit: Source article http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...90721a-eng.htm

Cowboy89 · 07-21-2009, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

http://www.google.com/hostednews/can...VQNpV9O97anQ2g

So even though it may seem like the world is a more dangerous place today than when we were kids, please keep the real statistics in mind.

And feel safe eating in Asian restaurants again.

The fallacy of all of these statistics is the "Police-reported" part.

Azure · 07-21-2009, 09:53 AM

How many crimes aren't being reported?

'Police-reported' doesn't exactly mean that the report is an accurate portrayal of crime in Canada.

Bobblehead · 07-21-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure

How many crimes aren't being reported?

'Police-reported' doesn't exactly mean that the report is an accurate portrayal of crime in Canada.

The no one knows if it has gone up or down. It isn't like on previous reports they were magically able to deduce non-reported crime.

mykalberta · 07-21-2009, 09:56 AM

Why doesnt anyone think of the criminals. This economic downturn - the second great depression as some have said have obviously hit criminals harder than most.

Azure · 07-21-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

The no one knows if it has gone up or down. It isn't like on previous reports they were magically able to deduce non-reported crime.

Well I agree that it is a good sign that police-reported crime has gone down.

But, what if it is only going down because people aren't reporting break-ins anymore because they know it won't help?

Or if people who abuse others aren't being reported because the family is scared of the consequences if that person finds out?

octothorp · 07-21-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure

How many crimes aren't being reported?

'Police-reported' doesn't exactly mean that the report is an accurate portrayal of crime in Canada.

Is there any reason to think that unreported crimes have gone up over the last year? There are a few categories where there is reason to suspect a high unreported crime rate (rape, domestic abuse); but is there any reason to think that 20,000 people simply chose not to report that their car had been stolen, or that 2,000 people chose to report that they had been robbed?

arsenal · 07-21-2009, 10:09 AM

"For the greater good"... "Greater good"..

Devils'Advocate · 07-21-2009, 10:13 AM

Bah.

I work at Stats, but not in the survey divisions. However, they do have a program here where we all must go out and do one survey, just to get a feel for it. So that we gain an appreciation of what other jobs there are in the agency.

The one I went on was on crime in Belleville. We asked the respondants if they knew of any recent crime that took place in their neighborhood, if they themselves had been the victim of a crime, if they believed that crime had gone up or down in their neighborhood and if they believed that crime had gone up or down in the city as a whole. Our findings were pretty much unanimous. VERY few people had been victims of crime (or at least crimes more than the stealing of extension cables), VERY few people knew of any major crimes in their neighborhood, MOST people said that crime was down in their neighborhood, and MOST people said that crime was up in the city in general. Rather confusing results since we polled people from all over the community. How could people believe in ALL areas of the city that crime was down in their neighborhood, but believe it was up in general?

-=-=-=-=-=-
It's hard to lose a government job, but telling a respondants response to a question is a surefire way to get kicked out of Stats, but I think I'm okay with this one. One of the respondants I interviewed had a wicked sense of humour. I asked him if he knew of any burglaries and he said no. Assaults? No. Vandalism? No. Prostitution? "No need. The wife doesn't charge the neighbors." A nerf ball came flying out of the kitchen and hit him in the head.

TurnedTheCorner · 07-21-2009, 10:17 AM

If only we could get a similar decline in media saturation, and double the decline in sensationalism.

Ozy_Flame · 07-21-2009, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Bah.

How could people believe in ALL areas of the city believe that crime was down in their neighborhood, but believe it was up in general?

Well you're asking the general public, and most people know nothing about anything logical when it comes to groupthink.

troutman · 07-21-2009, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

If only we could get a similar decline in media saturation, and double the decline in sensationalism.

But QR 77 says the criminals are running rampant, and need to be executed!

TurnedTheCorner · 07-21-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

But QR 77 says the criminals are running rampant, and need to be executed!

mikey_the_redneck · 07-21-2009, 01:02 PM

Must be the gun registry finally paying off................

Bring_Back_Shantz · 07-21-2009, 01:51 PM

I love how some people are so cynical that when they hear a peice of good news like "Crime rates are down" they immediately jump to the completely illogical conclusion that for some reason the number of people not reporting crime has increased.

Cowperson · 07-21-2009, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bring_Back_Shantz

I love how some people are so cynical that when they hear a peice of good news like "Crime rates are down" they immediately jump to the completely illogical conclusion that for some reason the number of people not reporting crime has increased.

As the Canadian demographic shifts to an older age, it would follow that overall crime statistics would decline.

Predictable even.

Cowperson

Bring_Back_Shantz · 07-21-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowperson

As the Canadian demographic shifts to an older age, it would follow that overall crime statistics would decline.

Predictable even.

Cowperson

No way dude, it's got to be that people are so scared due to all of the rampant crime, caused by the ever increasing crime rate, that they simply aren't reporting it to the police.

jammies · 07-21-2009, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by octothorp

Is there any reason to think that unreported crimes have gone up over the last year? There are a few categories where there is reason to suspect a high unreported crime rate (rape, domestic abuse); but is there any reason to think that 20,000 people simply chose not to report that their car had been stolen, or that 2,000 people chose to report that they had been robbed?

Well, it makes sense that unreported crime decreases when reported crime decreases, but really we don't know for sure one way or the other, so therefore we should choose the interpretation that leads to fear-mongering. Otherwise, how can we decry the moral decay of society and root out scapegoats?

Ozy_Flame · 07-21-2009, 04:18 PM

Crime may be down, but we're going to have alot more broom-waving codgers watching wearily out the window...Damn kids.