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British Columbia - The Best Place on Earth -

Just ask our criminals…

By Gerry Wickstead

Investigating Crime and Issuing Criminal Charges in Canada

22 Crime Categories over seven years (1997-2003)

Solving ATTEMPT MURDER (1997-2003) British Columbia

Source: Statistics Canada – Catalogue no. 85-205

2003 8^th place among 10 provinces

65.5% charge rate

38 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

BELOW Canadian average (70.3%)

2002 8^th place among 10 provinces

72.0% charge rate

23 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

BELOW Canadian average (74.9%)

2001 8^th place among 10 provinces

68.0% charge rate

30 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

BELOW Canadian average (74.5%)

2000 9^th place among 10 provinces

70% charge rate

27 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

BELOW Canadian average (74.8%)

1999 3^rd place among 10 provinces

81.9% charge rate

15 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

ABOVE Canadian average (75.9%)

1998 7^th place among 10 provinces

62.2% charge rate

34 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

BELOW Canadian average (70.9%)

1997 4^th place among 10 provinces

86.8% charge rate

18 reported Attempt murders without criminal charges

ABOVE Canadian average (71.4%)

Solving Crime in Canada (2003) ATTEMPT MURDER

Police reported incidents – in order of Highest to Lowest Charge Rates

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Nova Scotia 936,025	19	2	22	116%
2^nd	Manitoba 1,162,776	24	2	26	108%
3^rd	New Brunswick 750,594	4	1	4	100%
4^th	Alberta 3,153,723	41	1	37	90.2%
5^th	Saskatchewan 994,843	34	3	27	79.4%
6^th	Ontario 12,238,300	192	2	140	72.9%
7^th	Newfoundland 519,570	11	2	8	72.7%
	CANADA 31,629,677	710	2	499	Canadian average 70.3%
8^th	British Columbia 4,146,580	110	3	72	65.5%
9^th	Quebec 7,487,169	269	4	158	58.7%
10^th	Prince Edward Island 137,781	0	0	0	0

*Note: The total number of Incidents Cleared by Charge in British Columbia is actually lower than indicated. Criminal Charges initiated by Police in BC may have been Stayed / dropped by Crown Counsel causing the actual number of incidents cleared by charges to be lower. New Brunswick and Quebec have a similar prosecutor-based system. However these two provinces alter their Charge clearance numbers when Crown prosecutors drop charges while British Columbia does not.

“In New Brunswick and Quebec (for the Surete du Quebec only), the initial clearance status recommended by the police (e.g., cleared by a specific charge) is subject to approval by the Crown. Should the Crown find insufficient evidence to proceed with the charge, the police revise their records to take into account the recommendation by the Crown. According to the data element definition, a charge is cleared only if there is sufficient evidence to proceed. However, other jurisdictions, including British Columbia which has a system similar to Quebec, do not revise their internal records when the Crown disagrees with the police assessment of the evidence. For this reason, caution should be taken in making comparisons between jurisdictions for this data element. “

Source: Statistics Canada – Crime Statistics 2003 Catalogue no 85-205 Page 79

In British Columbia there were 38 Attempt Murders without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (2002) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Manitoba 1,150,848	23	2	24	104.3%
2^nd	Prince Edward Island 139,913	2	1	2	100%
^rd	Newfoundland 531,595	3	1	3	100%
4^th	Alberta 3,113,586	42	1	37	88.1%
5^th	Saskatchewan 1,011,808	28	3	22	78.6%
6^th	Nova Scotia 944,765	27	3	21	77.8%
	CANADA 31,629,677	682	2	511	Canadian average 74.9%
7^th	Quebec 7,455,208	240	3	176	73.3%
8^th	British Columbia 4,141,272	82	2	59	72.0% *
9^th	Ontario 12,068,301	226	2	159	70.4%
10^th	New Brunswick 756,652	4	1	2	50%

In British Columbia there were 23 reported Attempted Murder incidents without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (2001) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Prince Edward Island 138,514	1	1	1	100%
2^nd	Nova Scotia 942,691	15	2	14	93.3%
3^rd	Saskatchewan 1,015,783	26	3	22	84.6%
4^th	Manitoba 1,150,034	28	2	23	82.1%
5^th	Ontario 11,874,436	262	2	206	78.6%
6^th	Alberta 3,064,249	30	1	23	76.7%
	CANADA 31,081,887	721	2	544	Canadian average 74.5%
7^th	Quebec 7,410,504	247	3	180	72.9%
8^th	British Columbia 4,095,934	94	2	64	68%
9^th	Newfoundland 533,761	8	1	5	62.5%
10^th	New Brunswick 757,077	4	1	2	50%

In British Columbia there were 30 reported Attempted Murder incidents without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (2000) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Manitoba 1,147,880	21	2	27	129%
2^nd	New Brunswick 756,598	4	1	5	125%
3^rd	Prince Edward Island 138,928	1	1	1	100%
4^th	Nova Scotia 940,996	16	2	15	94%
5^th	Alberta 2,997,236	35	1	32	91.4%
6^th	Newfoundland 538,823	9	2	8	88.9%
7^th	Saskatchewan 1,023,636	34	3	28	82.3%
8^th	Ontario 11,669,344	266	2	204	76.7%
	CANADA 30,750,087	766	2	573	Canadian average 74.8%
9^th	British Columbia 4,063,760	90	2	63	70%
10^th	Quebec 7,372,448	289	4	189	65.4%

In British Columbia there were 27 reported Attempt Murder incidents without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (1999) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Alberta 2,964,689	31	1	29	93.5%
2^nd	Manitoba 1,143,509	26	2	24	92.3%
3^rd	British Columbia 4,023,100	83	2	68	81.9%
4^th	Ontario 11,513,808	193	2	156	80.8%
5^th	Saskatchewan 1,027,780	46	4	37	80.4%
6^th	Nova Scotia 939,791	10	1	8	80%
	CANADA 30,491,294	685	2	520	Canadian average 75.9%
7^th	Quebec 7,345,390	281	4	188	66.9%
8^th	New Brunswick 754,969	12	2	7	58.3%
	Newfoundland 541,000	-	-	-	-
	Prince Edward Island 137,980	-	-	-	-

In British Columbia there were 15 reported Attempted Murder incidents without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (1998) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	New Brunswick 752,999	3	-	4	133%
2^nd	Prince Edward Island 136,388	1	1	1	100%
3^rd	Manitoba 1,138,872	28	2	24	85.7%
4^th	Saskatchewan 1,024,387	52	5	38	73.1%
5^th	Ontario 11,411,547	229	2	165	72.0%
	CANADA 30,300,422	738	2	523	Canadian average 70.9%
6^th	Quebec 7,333,283	267	4	178	66.7%
7^th	British Columbia 4,009,922	90	2	56	62.2%
8^th	Alberta 2,914,918	34	1	21	61.8%
9^th	Nova Scotia 934,587	11	1	6	54.5%
	Newfoundland 544,400	-	-	-	-

In British Columbia there were 34 reported Attempt Murders without criminal charges.

Solving Crime in Canada (1997) ATTEMPT MURDER

PROVINCE

(population)

Incidents reported

CRIME

RATE

CLEARED

BY CHARGE

% of reported incidents

cleared by charge

1^st	Manitoba 1,142,200	34	3	32	94.1%
2^nd	Saskatchewan 1,021,700	52	5	47	90.4%
3^rd	Alberta 2,841,300	51	2	45	88.2%
4^th	British Columbia 3,921,500	136	3	18	86.8%
5^th	New Brunswick 761,100	10	1	8	80%
6^th	Newfoundland 562,000	9	2	7	77.8%
	CANADA 30,285,800	861	3	615	Canadian average 71.4%
7^th	Nova Scotia 946,800	16	2	11	68.8%
8^th	Quebec 7,431,000	273	4	175	64.1%
9^th	Ontario 11,421,600	278	2	171	61.5%
	Prince Edward Island 137,100	-	-	-	-

In British Columbia there were 18 reported Attempt Murder incidents without criminal charges.

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