"What is not justice is not law" : patterns of crime and law enforcement in Victoria, British Columbia
Date
1997
Authors
Beck, Robert William
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Abstract
Crime rates are related to economic conditions, police and judicial practice, and political context, among other factors . Police and court records produced in Victoria, British Columbia during the 1920s and 1930s were used to examine this relationship and the characteristics of individual accused. Aggregate data produced between 1922 and 1940 show that rates of property crime increased significantly with the onset of the Great Depression. Rates were strongly correlated with indicators of economic hardship. Individual arrest records compiled from 1928 to 193 3 show that gender, race, and occupation were significant predictors of the offences with which individuals were charged. Arrest and conviction rates, particularly for offences for which police could use discretion in making an arrest, suggest that correlations of crime with hardship cannot be explained by greater official vigilance or punitiveness. A survey of local newspapers suggests that there was no local "moral panic" which might have pressured police and the courts to become more vigilant or punitive.