Understanding the Sexual Victimization of Children by Juveniles: Identifying Criminal Event Patterns

The purpose of this study is to explore the crime-commission process involved in the sexual victimization of children perpetrated by juveniles. Specifically, this study aims to explore the interconnectedness of pre-crime, crime, and post-crime phases with victimological characteristics using a criminal event perspective. The sample used in this study consists of 185 cases of child sexual abuses perpetrated by juveniles. The first step of this study uses latent class analysis to explore the relationship between each step of the crime-commission process. As a second step, additional variables were used to test the external validity of our model. Results suggest that there are three different criminal event patterns: familiar sexually non-intrusive, familiar sexually intrusive, and stranger sexually non-intrusive. Moreover, we found that specific victimological characteristics were associated with each of the patterns. Practical implications in terms of situational crime prevention and victim assistance are discussed.

The Need for a Canadian Database of Police Use-of-Force Incidents

Concerns surrounding the use of force by police officers appear to be growing, fuelled by perceptions that the police use force too frequently, research showing that force is applied disproportionately to members of certain groups, and the view held by some that the mechanisms for holding police responsible for unjustified force are inadequate. In this paper, we advocate for the creation of a national use-of-force database in Canada to gain a better understanding of these issues, adding our voice to those who have already been actively calling for this. We describe some of the potential benefits that would be associated with such a database, including the fact that it would enhance police transparency and accountability, while also increasing our understanding of when and why force is used and what strategies may be useful for reducing inappropriate applications of force. We also highlight some of the challenges we think would be encountered, including mandating nationwide participation, overcoming resistance from the police community, establishing sensible case inclusion criteria, and standardizing data collection. While these are significant challenges, we believe not only that they are possible to overcome but that doing so will provide real value to Canadian society.

Examining Press Conference and Press Release Accounts of Canadian Police Shootings

Little research examines the communication work that public police do following police shootings. Based on an analysis of 85 press releases, press conferences, and media interviews after police shootings in Canada spanning 2010–2020, we analyse narrative techniques used in police communications. Contributing to literature on police image management, we examine patterns in these communications, and we also identify silences and absences. We argue police press conferences and press releases after police shootings are less oriented toward misinformation or agenda-setting and more toward risk aversion. Sixty-two percent of communications in our sample used “euphemisms,” which obfuscate elements of use of force, while 31% of communications were “silent” and provided no justification for or information on the shootings. For these reasons, these communications may contribute to a sense of injustice felt by families of the victims of police shootings. Our findings may give pause to police administrators and media liaison officers who should consider what message such risk-averse communications send to families of victims, as well as to the public. In conclusion, we reflect on what these findings mean for literature on police image management.

Situational and Ecological Predictors of Conducted Energy Weapon Application Severity

Despite being touted as a “less lethal” use-of-force option, conducted energy weapons (CEWs) do pose some risk of injury to civilians, and thus warrant empirical examination. CEWs provide users with multiple use modes constituting various levels of severity; yet apart from the work of Somers and colleagues, almost no research exists investigating these levels of severity. Further, research findings on the impact of suspect resistance on CEW deployment are somewhat mixed. We contribute an innovative application of environmental criminology in a Canadian setting by exploring situational and ecological predictors of CEW application severity, with special attention being paid to reasons cited for CEW use and the impact of subject resistance level. Using all 393 Ontario Provincial Police CEW-related use-of-force reports over a two-year period, we find probe deployment to be the most common level of CEW application severity, irrespective of subject resistance level, and even when officers and subjects are in close proximity to one another. Application of CEW for the purpose of effecting an arrest is consistently the strongest predictor of CEW application severity without any mediating effect of subject resistance level or presence of a weapon. The impact of applying CEWs for the purpose of effecting arrests on CEW application severity is partially mediated by lighting visibility. Results are discussed.

#AbolishNCR: A Qualitative Analysis of Social Media Narratives around the Insanity Defense

This article presents an analysis of social media posts by laypersons regarding a finding of Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD) for Matthew de Grood after a high-profile trial in 2016 in Canada. From trial to verdict, a total of 4,991 tweets relating to the case were harvested from Twitter. Qualitative content analysis of 365 tweets by laypersons revealed three themes – largely equating the insanity defense to a legal loophole: (1) The case exemplified a misappropriation of the legal defense (e.g., due to privilege, due to the seriousness of the offence); (2) The perception existed that the NCRMD defence is a miscarriage of justice; (3) Many comments reflected a search for answers and justice. These embodied the ABCs of NCRMD: advocating, blaming, and clarifying. A need for public education about the forensic psychiatric system is evident; misconceptions about the insanity defence appeared pervasive. Further research could focus on the efficacy of knowledge translation over new media channels, such as Twitter.

A Tale of Two Theories: Whither Social Disorganization Theory and the Routine Activities Approach?

Social disorganization theory and the routine activities approach have been extensively applied separately as theoretical frameworks for the spatial analysis of crime, with general support. As hypothetical explanations for complex social phenomena, criminological theories can impact how studies are framed and how the crime problem is approached. Thus, it is important to evaluate theories continuously in various geographical, as well as contemporary contexts. This study uses both theories in tandem to examine their ability to explain 2016 property crime in Vancouver, Canada, using 2016 census data. Both theories found moderate support. Of particular note is that all of the variables designated as proxies for ethnic heterogeneity in social disorganization theory were either not statistically significant or negative, consistent with the immigration and crime literature. Additionally, almost all variables, when statistically significant, were found to have consistent results across crime types. These results bode well for the continued use of social disorganization theory and the routine activity approach in spatial analyses of crime.

“We’re Not Where We Should Be”: Enhancing Law Enforcement Responses to Hate Crime

In an era when reported hate crimes are increasing dramatically, it is troubling that there appears to be, at best, an uneven response to the problem from law enforcement in Canada. Our pilot study of policing hate crime in Ontario is the first attempt to understand whether and how law enforcement think about and act on hate crime. Interviews with officers in eight police forces across eastern and southern Ontario ( N = 38) uncovered three clusters of factors that appear to shape how they manage hate crime: environmental, organizational, and individual. What we offer in this paper is a series of related recommendations for enhancing police responses to hate crime along each of the three dimensions.