CRIM 1650 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Motor Vehicle Theft, Plastic Surgery, Arson

• School: York University
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRIM 1650
• Professor: James Williams

Document Summary

Measurement of crime (week 3 sept. 27) (tut) sr710 10:30-11:30 objectives: links between definition and measurement, collection methods, profile of crime (in canada, use and abuse of crime stats, politics of crime stats. The definition of crime influences how it is measured: activities that are not defined as crime won"t be measured, ex. Ex. (bronx) assault resulting in broken bones is an offence vs. a swollen lip/black eye, therefore assault crimes were decreasing. Includes crimes reported to police & the outcomes of police patrols, and investigations. Property theft with no suspects etc, is still counted: crime rate = 100,000/population x # of incidents *calculates crime rate, Not crime : crime severity index (2009) Captures the larger volume of less serious offences, and undercounted serious offences bc the ucr is a measure of volume vs. severity * Weighting system (serious crime have higher weights)