Crime and Justice Statistics

If you need help, please contact Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian for Criminology, Engineering, and Computing Science at 778.782.3315 or ysk6@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian.

How to Find:

Vancouver Crime Statistics
General Canadian Crime Statistics
Statistics on Corrections / Incarceration / Prison Populations
Opinion Polls & Surveys

Secondary Sources - Newspaper & Journal Articles
Style Guides
Related Statistics
Department Web Pages

Vancouver Crime Statistics

Vancouver Police Department's Statistical Reports by District and City Totals

General Canadian Crime Statistics

Crime Statistics in Canada – Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics – Statistics Canada
2005 / 2004 / 2003 / 2002 / 2001 / 2000

Using statistics from the uniform crime reporting survey (UCR), this annual publication provides information on national and census metropolitan area (CMA) crime rate, violent crimes (sexual assault, robbery, homicide, abduction) non-violent crime, impaired driving, counterfeiting, drugs, and youth crime. Standardized definitions of crimes allow for trend analysis across CMAs, provinces and the country.

Canadian Crime Statistics
Available online 1997- / Available in print 1960-1999 Bennett Library Stats Canada (2nd Floor)
This product was discontinued as of October 2004.
“Standard crime tables are presented for Canada, the provinces and territories, and all census metropolitan areas. Also included in the publication is a set of 20 tables from the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, based on data collected from 122 police departments in nine provinces that dealt with 61% of the national volume of police-reported crime. These tables examine the characteristics of the victims and the accused (their age and sex, the relationship of the accused to the victim, level of injury and weapon causing injury), as well as the criminal incident itself (location of the incident, target of violation, presence of weapons and type of property stolen).”

Juristat
Juristat provides a “series of reports on a variety of topics and issues concerning Canada's justice system. Annual Juristats are produced in the following areas: crime statistics, homicide, impaired driving, justice system resources and expenditures, youth court statistics, youth custody and probation and corrections statistics. Additional Juristats are also produced each year on current topics of interest to the justice community.” These include topics such as aboriginal adults and corrections, private policing and public security.

Juristat reports draw upon data from a number of different Statistics Canada Surveys, all of which are outlined here. Most of these individual surveys can be accessed from Statistics Canada via CHASS.

Criminal Justice Indicators Statistics Canada. Canada Centre for Justice Statistics (85-227-XIE)
"This reference tool contains 94 graphics illustrating current and historical data from a number of Statistics Canada surveys. The graphics show data on crime, police administration, adult and youth court activity, the correctional population and transition homes, as well as various issues such as criminal victimization and family violence. Each graphic is accompanied by a short explanatory text."

Statistics on Corrections / Incarceration / Prison Populations

British Columbia
	Correctional Facilities in British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Lists correctional facilities in British Columbia with capacity for inmates. The Ministry does not publish inmate population on an annual basis but it is available upon request. Secondary sources such as newspaper and journal articles are a good places to find this information.
Canada
	Adult Correctional Services in Canada “[This document reports] average counts of adults who have been incarcerated, who were under community supervision on probation, serving a conditional sentence or on conditional release (parole and statutory release). The number of admissions to these programs, the offences leading to the admission, the duration of the incarceration or probation, as well as some offender characteristics, such as age, sex and Aboriginal identity are also described.”
	Basic Facts about the Correctional Service of Canada. Provides general information on individuals in federal correctional facilities in Canada from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004.
	One-Day Snapshot of Inmates in Canada’s Adult Correctional Facilities Information on distribution of correctional facilities and inmate populations across Canada. Reports on correctional facilities and some characteristics of the inmate population including age, gender, offence, prior offences, and length of sentence. Presents census of inmates in provincial, territorial, and federal correctional facilities on October 5 th, 1996.
International
	World Prison Population List (5th edition, 2004) – Home Office Reports incarceration rates for 205 countries and dependent territories. Sources for prison population totals are included. Produced by UK government department – Home Office
	World Fact Book of Criminal Justice Systems U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics A collection of reports about the criminal justice systems of countries around the world, compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics.
	Correctional Populations in the United States – US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics “jurisdiction-level counts of prisoners, probationers, and parolees, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, admission type, release type, and sentence length. Data are also provided on persons under jail jurisdiction for the Nation, as well as the 25 largest jurisdictions. Jail information includes the number of inmates by gender, race, Hispanic origin, juvenile status, and conviction status, and the total jail capacity and percent occupied at midyear. The tables also include data on characteristics of inmates under a sentence of death, reported separately for those who entered prison and those who were removed from under a death sentence during the year.”

Opinion Polls & Surveys

For public opinion on issues relating to crime and justice, try:

Ipsos Trend Report (Canada)
The Ipsos Trend Report Canada reports provide statistics and analysis covering Canadians' reaction to major issues and events, as well as public opinion on capital punishment, crime & crime prevention, sentencing, young offenders, and personal safety.

Lexis-Nexis Academic Polls & Surveys (United States)
The file includes opinion polls from Gallup, Harris, Roper; ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC; Los Angeles Times, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal. Select Reference on the left hand navigation bar followed by Polls & Surveys.

Secondary Sources - Journal & Newspaper Articles

In the Criminology databases, combine some of the following phrases with other keywords related to your topic of research.

Crime Rates	Trend Analysis	Incarceration Rates
Crime Statistics	Arrest Rates	Recidivism Rates
Crime Rate Studies	Conviction Rates	Victimization Rates
Statistical Analysis	Homicide Rates

Newspapers are a good source for statistics on crime, reporting findings from surveys and opinion polls conducted by research centers, educational institutions, and advocacy groups. Use the above keywords or other related terms in your search.

See the guide News Resources for a list of newspaper indexes.

Related Statistics

Style Guides

APA / MLA / Chicago / Turabian
SFU: School of Criminology, Term Paper Style Requirements
Style Sheets for Citing Internet and Electronic Resources [UC Berkeley]
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. [1918]
How to Use a Standard Format for Your Bibliography [SFU]
Internet Citation Guide [from H-Net]
Legal Citation: Legal Research materials (from Queen's University)
A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations, 6th edition [Turabian] Bennett and Belzberg Reference LB 2369 T8 2007

Department web pages

Owned by: Yolanda Koscielski

Revised by: Yolanda Koscielski

Last Modified: 2011-09-08

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