NCJ Number
154441
Date Published
1994
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This Canadian study examined the effect of police investigators' efficiency (probability of being charged for committing one crime) and prosecutors' efficiency (probability of being incarcerated if charged with a crime) on Canadian crime rates from 1962 to 1990.
Abstract
The report first describes the time-series for a few typical and well-measured criminal activities. Researchers focused on the probability of a person being charged with each of those crimes and the probability of someone charged with those crimes being imprisoned. The total prison population was also taken into account. The working hypothesis is that the probability of being charged with a crime, the probability of being sent to prison, and the number of persons in prison each exert an independent and negative effect on crime rates. In Canada time-series data on the processing of individuals through each step of the criminal justice system are not available. This study relied on aggregate data for four types of crime: homicide, robbery, assault, and burglary. For these four types of offenses, statistics are available on the number of crimes reported, the number of persons charged, and the number of persons imprisoned. Multivariate analysis found that an increase in the volume of one type of crime did not necessarily lead to a decrease in the ability of the police and the courts to identify and punish the offenders. Changes in the risk of incarceration were related to changes in crime rates; however, effects were small and varied from one type of criminal behavior to another. Overall, the results show that police investigators' efficiency and prosecutors' efficiency did not change dramatically in the last three decades, although crime steadily increased. 4 figures, 1 table, and 34 references