Comparison and Contrast of Crime Rates in USA to Canada and England

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Comparison and Contrast of Crime Rates in USA to Canada and England

Introduction

This paper provides a comparison and contrast of crime rates in USA, Canada and England. The paper compares and contrast crime data (using at least three index crimes) from the United States, Canada and England. Further, the paper also presents data visualization chart for presenting the crime data in a way that allows the reader to visualize the information. Likewise, there is a thorough explanation of criminal data for each country that also addresses the similarities and differences between Canada, England and the U.S. Lastly, the discussion also includes explanation of any justice policies, cultural practices, and pertinent history that may explain the differences/similarities in the crime rates in these countries.

Discussion

It can be argued that crime rates are the basic measure in analysing the criminal justice system of any country. In the US, there are two main measures of crime- The Uniform Crime Reports and the National Crime Victimization Survey, which measures crime rates across the country with different sample collection methods (US Department of Justice, 2009). Similarly, there are also two main procedures for measuring crime in England such as the police recorded crime and the British Crime Survey method. These measures are used in England to present reports on crime victimizations from a sample selected from the residents of England. On the contrary, there is only one measure to gather crime reports in Canada that is known as the Crime Severity Index. This report presents criminal statistics that reveals the number of criminal incidents reported to the police (Government of Canada, 2009). It can be argued that each of these measures in each country has its own advantages and complexities. However, the data trend revealed from these reports is useful in reaching legitimate suppositions and making comparisons regarding the crime direction in different countries. The following section explores the criminal trends in the US, Canada and England. The chart below presents the criminal data collected from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Control [UNODC] (2013) for three different index crimes including intentional homicide, and in the US, England and Canada.

Figure 1: Source: UNODC Data Statistics 2013

The definition of each crime listed above might be different for different countries. However, the UNODC homicide statistics includes data on intentional homicide across these countries, which refers to the unlawful death decisively imposed on an individual by another individual. Likewise, the data on Burglary includes data reported to police in these countries regarding the gaining of unauthorized access (even forcefully) to any building or other premises for the purpose of stealing anything from that building or premises. In the data above, burglary includes intent of stealing goods from a house, apartment or other residential place, office, shop or any other military establishment by using false means. Furthermore, “Assault” refers to the physical attack on other individual that may result in his or her physical injury. However, assault excludes any ...