Methodology

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Data

The analysis in this paper used police-reported crime data from the Incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR2). Since the data are provided by police, only criminal acts reported to the police are counted. In addition, since the analysis focuses primarily on youth delinquency, only incidents in which a youth was apprehended and identified are included.

According to data from the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization, 39% the incidents that occurred in the Montréal CMA were reported to police. Police-reported crime rates can be affected by a number of factors, including people's inclination to report incidents, reporting of incidents by police, and changes in laws or law enforcement practices. A new law dealing with youth crime, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), was proclaimed in 2003, superseding the Young Offenders Act (YOA), which had been in effect since 1984. This legislative change and its impact are discussed in detail in Taylor-Butts and Bressan (2008).

The socio-economic data for neighbourhoods (census tracts) are from the 2001 Census. Although some 2006 Census data are already available, the 2001 data were more complete at the time of writing. In addition, using 2001 Census data provides greater compatibility with geocoded police data, which are also from 2001, and the previous report on crime in Montréal (Savoie, 2006), which was based on 2001 data.

Definitions1

Crime rate (of adolescents) and number of crimes: The youth crime rate and the number of crimes are based on the number of young people apprehended by police, whether they are formally charged or not. Since only crimes in which a chargeable suspect has been identified are counted, the actual number of crimes committed by young people may be understated. The crime rate is obtained by dividing the number of crimes by the population aged 12 to 17 and is expressed as a number per 100,000 people between the ages of 12 and 17.

Charged: When the police apprehend a suspect, they may decide to take informal or extrajudicial action (a warning, referral to community programs, no action) or lay formal charges. The term "charged" applies to incidents that resulted in a formal charge. Note that the number of incidents that did not result in formal charges may be understated, because the police do not always keep complete files in such cases, which usually involve a minor offence.

Not charged: Suspect identified but against whom no formal charges are laid.

Accused: Refers to all young people identified by the police as chargeable suspects in a criminal case, both charged and not charged.

Kernel density: A location where a large number of crimes are concentrated. Note that concentrations are based solely on the number of crimes and do not take into account the density of the resident population or the population at risk.

Note

  1. For all definitions and variables used in this study, see Savoie et al., 2006.