August 1, 2000
Kamloops Daily News


Public perception and reality are out of sync when it
comes to crime.  Canadians think that crime is increasing;
statistics show that it is decreasing.

The latest statistics show that crime is the lowest in 20
years.  Just about every type of crime going down:
homicides, sexual  assaults, and break and enters.  Drug
offences went against the trend by increasing by 12 per
cent, but three-quarters of all drug arrests were linked to
marijuana.

One conventional explanation is that crime is really higher
than the statistics show because many crimes go unreported. 
I don't think so -- crimes are reported more than ever. 
Programs like Neighbourhood Watch, and technology such as
surveillance cameras, ensure that crime is more likely
reported.   There are three factors that make crime seem
worse than it is.

1)Perception of crime. Crime looms large when they it close
to home.  For example, last week when a disturbed man held
his children hostage and terrorized his neighbours in
Kamloops last week, crime seemed to be out-of-control. 
Crimes against the family are no longer hidden -- spousal
beatings, murder of family members, sexual assault on
children, stalking of women, all hit close to home. 

These crimes were once cloaked under the mask of family
respectability and censure. What was private family grief
has become public.  Public display of the grief of victims
has become the subject of many television talk shows.
Victims of crime now reveal their anguish through impact
statements to courts.

Then there are the aging baby-boomers.  They have always
shaped public opinion by their sheer numbers, and they still
do.  An aging population skews the perception of crime.  As
baby-boomers age, they loose the sense that they once had of
controlling the world.  Even though crimes committed by
youths are not increasing, the perception of aging
baby-boomers is that of a world in which they are losing
control to a new generation. 

Thus, youth crime appears to increase.  Boomers once felt
smug about the generation gap. They sang along with Bob Dylan
when he wailed, "something's happening, but you don't know
what it is, do you Mr. Jones?"  Now that boomers are on the
other side of the generation gap, they feel out of touch, 
and a little sorry for Mr. Jones.



2) Marketing of crime.  The portrayal of violent crime in
movies, video games, and  television is a factor. The
pervasive idiot-eye of American television has seen into the
hearts of its viewers and it sees fear -- and fear sells
products.  Canadians are drawn to the spectacle of the
violence in of American society like gawkers at the scene of
a road accident. We want to look away but we are fascinated
by the horror.

After exposure to lurid, fictional crime, things seem
sinister. Kids in green spiky hair and bodies pierced in
improbable places, now seem menacing.  Perception aside,
kids are nicer than they have been for a long time. They are
certainly nicer than the "me generation" who wanted it all
and to-hell-with-everyone-else. But in the advertising
world, those without spending power are vilified.



3) Politics of crime.  Stockwell Day smells fear in the
electorate.  He has been campaigning on a platform of
getting tough on youth offenders and on crime.  He doesn't
let facts get in the way of politics. When faced with the
statistics that show that crime is on the decline, he said
"We need to look at the statistics carefully. Of course,
it's our intention to have policies that would see an
ongoing reduction in crime."   

There is no doubt what the statistics show. The perception,
marketing, and politics of crime are increasing, not crime
itself.  Of course crime could be lower.  Politicians should
be tackling the sources of crime -- poverty of children, the
cycle of family abuse, and the growing numbers of desperate
homeless.  But it's easier to exploit voter's fears than
find real solutions to crime.

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