Crime Reduction Board for Canada
2011/11/11
In his introduction to the Safe Streets and Communities Act, the Canadian Minister of Justice noted crime must be reduced in Canada, given the 440,000 crimes of violence and 1.3 million crimes of property recorded by police last year. He stressed that $83 billion in harm to victims of crime in Canada justifies additional expenditures.
Smart enforcement and treatment must be balanced with smart prevention – fewer victims, less harm to victims, fewer cases for criminal justice, less deficit. This Act must include a short amendment to create a permanent and high level Crime Reduction Board to sustain efforts to prevent crime and enhance services and rights for victims of crime.
The Board would achieve its purpose, inter alia, by braiding federal government efforts to tackle the causes of violence, developing national standards and training, and sharing information with the public.
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US AG Endorses Winning Strategy to Prevent Youth Violence – Smart Enforcement and Prevention
2011/11/07
The Attorney General wants to save lives and invest in youth by ¨braiding¨ the support from multiple federal agencies for local partnerships.
His winning framework, made public last week, is a logical and evidence based strategy. It wants to shift crime policy from the expensive ¨only criminal justice¨ reaction to crime. It calls for a wise balance between smart enforcement, risk focused prevention, and rehabilitation.
It is critical because it addresses causes and uses data. Potentially it will reduce harm to crime victims while reinvesting over-expenditures on law enforcement and incarceration. For sustained success, it must invest in making the shift and retool to make prevention as important as reaction.
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Legislating More Prison Time Does Not Deter Violence but Smart Policing and Pre-crime Prevention Do
2011/10/15
Numerous studies by economists and others show that attempts to increase the deterrent effect of incarceration by adding minimum penalties to criminal codes and lengthening already long sentences have failed to demonstrate success in reducing the number of persons who are victims of violence or the extent of harm to crime victims. In contrast, smart policing can reduce the number of, and harm to, victims significantly. In addition, there are many proven pre-crime prevention strategies that are cost effective in reducing crime and harm to victims of crime.
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Making Canadians Less Likely to be Harmed by Crime – Salvaging an Expensive Crime Bill
2011/10/09
Tough on criminals without tough on causes is tough on potential victims and taxpayers. Pre-crime prevention is not only proven to make Canadians less likely to be harmed by crime but does it faster and more cost effectively than adding prison time to lengthy prison sentences.
There are many examples of effective crime-prevention programs and respect for victims’ rights programs already in operation in Canada and elsewhere. The federal government must upgrade and strengthen its efforts to prevent crime by ensuring these success stories are used comprehensively.
More laws will not protect Canadians from the costly harm of crime without smart enforcement and reinvestment in effective prevention. An ounce of violence prevention will save a pound in harm and taxes. Where is the ounce?
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Making Streets and Families Safer – the Prevention Solution
2011/10/09
If legislators are serious about reducing harm to crime victims then they need to include pre-crime prevention as a significant tool. In Canada, Parliament is faced by a bill C-10 that will only add prison time. The bill needs to create a permanent crime reduction board to spearhead the federal role in the implementation of effective crime prevention, enhanced community safety, and fair services and rights for victims of crime. This amendment would reduce the number of, and harm to, victims of crime and so reduce the number of prisoners in Canada and the costs to taxpayers.
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