NCJ Number
148425
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1994) Pages: 153-163
Date Published
1994
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This author argues that the Canadian government should collect crime statistics based on race or any other variable if they serve legitimate law enforcement purposes.
Abstract
Opponents of efforts to collect and publish race-based crime statistics argue that such publication would lead to increased friction between various racial or ethnic communities and justify harassment of minorities by police, would distort the true contribution to crime of different racial or ethnic groups, and would waste criminal justice system resources because these factors are not related to crime. However, this author maintains that nationality could prove to be a strong predictor of criminality if the substantial variations in violence across countries are a true indication. A country has the sovereign right to monitor patterns of behavior within its territory and to exclude those who pose a threat to the public safety. 9 references