WHO IS THE “TYPICAL CRIMINAL”

WHO IS THE “TYPICAL CRIMINAL”

IN HIS INFAMOUS 1993 BOOK, HOW TO STOP CRIME, POLICE CHIEF ANTHONY BOUZA WRITES “STREET CRIME IS MOSTLY A BLACK AND POOR YOUNG MAN’S GAME.”

IN THE USA, BLACK LEADER, REVEREND JESSE JACKSON ONCE SAID: “ THERE IS NOTHING MORE PAINFUL TO ME AT THIS STAGE OF MY LIFE THAN TO WALK DOWN THE STREET AND HEAR FOOTSTEPS AND START THINKING ABOUT ROBBERY – AND THEN LOOK AROUND AND SEE SOMEONE WHITE AND FEEL RELIEVED.”

IN HER 1998 BOOK, THE COLOR OF CRIME, KATHRYN RUSSELL SPEAKS OF THE "CRIMINALBLACKMAN."

THE CRIMINALBLACKMAN IS A COMPOSITE OF WHITE FEARS OF BLACK MEN’S CRIMINALITY == IT MAY BECOME SO STRONG AND SO WIDESPREAD THAT IT ALLOWS FOR “RACIAL HOAXES,” IN WHICH A WHITE OFFENDER BLAMES AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, USUALLY MALE, FOR THE OFFENSE IN QUESTION AND IS READILY BELIEVED BY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENTS AND/OR THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

CHIRICOS, T. & ESCHOLZ, S. (2002). “THE RACIAL AND ETHNIC TYPIFICATION OF CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL TYPIFICATION OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN LOCAL TELEVISION NEWS.” JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME AND DELINQUENCY, 39 400-420. =====> ARGUE THAT “THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BLACK CRIMINAL THREAT IS SO WELL ESTABLISHED THAT IT IS REASONABLY ASSERTED THAT TODAY'S PREVAILING CRIMINAL PREDATOR HAS BECOME A EUPHEMISM FOR YOUNG BLACK MALE.”

THE CONTINUED OVER-REPRESENTATION AT ALL LEVELS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM SIGNIFIWS THE CRUEL AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PUBLIC'S CONTINUED TYPIFICATION OF BLACK MALES AS CRIMINOGENIC PREDATORS

{{{CRIMINOGENIC: RELATING TO CHARACTERISTICS OR FACTORS IDENTIFIED BY RESEARCH AS PREDICTORS OF CRIME AND/OR RELATED RECIDIVISM.}}}

{{{EX: CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE — INFLUENCES PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF SERIOUS CRIME AS LARGELY A MATTER OF RACE, REAL ESTATE (INCORPORATING CLASS AND AREA), AND FAMILY CONSTITUTION [LEADING TO AN INDICTMENT OF FAILED “MOTHERS” {RACIALIZED AND GENDER-IZED BY WHITE PATRIARCHY]}}}

...

LETS LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THE FACE IN TODAY’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE MIRROR,

== WHILE DEVIANCE IN GENERAL IS COMMON ACROSS THE ENTIRE POPULATION, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY APPEARS TO BE CONCENTRATED IN CERTAIN SECTORS OF SOCIETY ==

WHO IS THE “TYPICAL CRIMINAL.”

1) HE IS, FIRST OF ALL, A HE =

[THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN ANY STUDY OF CRIME ARREST RATES IS “GENDER” == IN THE USA -- OF 1,554,737 PERSONS ARRESTED FOR FBI INDEX CRIMES {AN AGGREGATE COLLECTION SYSTEM} IN 2001, 1,139,622, OR 73.3 PERCENT, WERE MALES]

[[ IN CANADA == ACCORDING TO THE LEADING SOURCE ON CRIMES REPORTED IN CANADA -- THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORT {UCR} DEVELOPED BY STATISTICS CANADA == MEN OR MORE LIKELY THAN WOMEN TO COMMIT MAJOR PROPERTY CRIMES {E.G., ROBBERY AND THEFT OVER $5000}, WHERE AS WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE INVOLVED IN MINOR PROPERTY CRIMES {E.G., THEFT $500 & UNDER AND FRAUD} == MEN HAVE HIGHER ARREST RATES THAN WOMEN FOR VIOLENT CRIMES SUCH AS HOMICIDE, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, ROBBERY, AND BREAK AND ENTER; WOMEN ARE MOST OFTEN ARRESTED FOR SUCH NONVIOLENT CRIMES AS SHOPLIFTING, PASSING BAD CHEQUES, CREDIT CARD FRAUD, AND EMPLOYEE PILFERAGE {CRIMINOLOGIST ESTIMATE THAT 10 PERCENT OF ALL HOMICIDES IN CANADA ARE COMMITTED BY WOMEN. MOST OF THESE ARE LINKED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SELF-DEFENCE.}

[[[NOTE: UNLIKE THE FBI IN THE UNITED STATES, SOURCES IN CANADA LIKE THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORT {UCR} USE AN INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM INSTEAD OF AN AGGREGATE SYSTEM, COLLECTING DATA ON EACH CRIMINAL EVENT, OFFENDER, AND VICTIM. IT IS THUS PROVIDING A MORE COMPLEX PORTRAIT OF CRIME IN CANADA == IN ADDITION, BECAUSE THE NUMBER OF CRIMES REPORTED IS NOT NECESSARILY THE NUMBER OF CRIMES COMMITTED, STATISTICS CANADA CONDUCTS VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS, MOST RECENTLY IN THE GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY OF 1999, SURVEYING 26,000 RANDOMLY SELECTED HOUSEHOLDS TO IDENTIFY VICTIMS OF PERSONAL CRIME]]]

2) HE IS YOUNG =

[AGE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN ANY STUDY OF THOSE ACCUSED OF A CRIME == IN THE USA – MORE THAN HALF {54 PERCENT} OF MEN ARRESTED FOR INDEX CRIMES WERE UNDER THE AGE OF 25]

[IN CANADA, THE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION ACCUSED OF SERIOUS CRIMES, SUCH AS HOMICIDE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND ROBBERY, TENDS TO PEAK DURING THE TEENAGE YEARS OR EARLY ADULTHOOD AND THEN DECLINE WITH AGE == WERE AS IN 2000, 30.6 PERCENT AND 29.4 PERCENT OF THOSE ACCUSED WITH COMMITTING OFFENCES WERE 18 TO 24, AND 25 TO 34, YEARS OF AGE RESPECTIVELY, 10.2 PERCENT AND 4.5 PERCENT WERE 45 TO 54, AND 55 OR MORE, YEARS OF AGE RESPECTIVELY.

SEVERAL REASONS HAVE BEEN ADVANCED FOR AGE–CRIME PATTERNS, INCLUDING:

3) HE IS PREDOMINANTLY URBAN

THE IDEA THAT CRIME NEEDS {ILLEGITIMATE} OPPORTUNITY STRUCTURES AND DEVIANT NETWORKS IMPLIES THAT IT IS FACILITATED BY AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

[[IN THE USA, CITIES WITH POPULATION OVER 250,000 HAD A RATE OF 1,118 ARRESTS FOR FBI INDEX CRIMES PER 100,000 INHABITANTS.

[IN CANADA, (1998) REGINA LED THE LIST OF SELECTED CITIES WITH 14,785 TOTAL INCIDENTS PER 100,000 POPULATION. VANCOUVER, SASKATOON, VICTORIA AND THUNDER BAY FOLLOWED BEHIND. QUEBEC CITY AHD THE LEAST NUMBER OF INCIDENTS AT 5,348. TORONTO WAS RIGHT BEHIND WITH 5,839]

4) FOURTH HE IS DISPROPORTIONATELY BLACK (AND ABORIGINAL IN CANADA)

[IN THE USA, BLACKS ARE ARRESTED FOR INDEX CRIMES AT A RATE NEARLY TWO-AND-A-HALF TIMES THAT OF THEIR PERCENTAGE IN THE NATIONAL POPULATION. IN 2001, WITH BLACKS REPRESENTING 12.8 PERCENT OF THE NATION’S POPULATION, THEY MADE UP 30.7 PERCENT OF INDEX CRIME ARRESTS]

[IN CANADA == {{REMARKABLY LITTLE INFORMATION IN THIS AREA THAT IS NOT BASED ON ANECDOTES, BECAUSE CRIME STATISTICS IN CANADA DO NOT REPORT ON ETHNIC BACKGROUND OF VICTIM AND ACCUSED. }} == WE DO HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT BACKGROUNDS IN THE CANADIAN CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE {3 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION} CONSTITUTE 14 PERCENT OF THE INMATES [IN WESTERN CANADA, ABORIGINAL PEOPLE CONSTITUTE UPWARDS OF 75 PERCENT OF THE INMATES IN PROVINCIAL JAILS.]

AND BLACKS {2 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION} CONSTITUTE 6 PERCENT OF THE FEDERAL INMATES (WORTLEY, 199: 262)}} == STUDIES SUGGEST THAT WHILE IMMIGRANTS COMMIT LESS CRIME THAN THE CANADIAN-BORN, SOME IMMIGRANT GROUPS, SUCH AS THOSE FROM CERTAIN CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES, TEND TO BE JAILED AT HIGHER RATES THAN THEIR PROPORTION IN THE POPULATION == YOUNG BLACK MALES IN ONTARIO ARE ALSO JAILED MORE OFTEN, ACCORDING TO A 1995 STUDY ON SYSTEMIC RACISM IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

{{EX: BETWEEN 1993 AND 1995, 43.2 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS STOPPED BY THE POLICE WERE BLACK. ONLY 23.8 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS WERE WHITE, AND 19 PERCENT CHINESE.}}

{{EX: THE 1995 REPORT ON SYSTEMIC RACISM IN ONTARIO’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM INDICATED THAT BLACKS AND ABORIGINAL PEOPLE ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO END UP IN PRISON. PRISON ADMISSIONS PER 100,000 MEMBERS OF THE TOTAL POPULATION STOOD AT 827. BY COMPARISON, THE RATE FOR BLACKS WAS 3686; FOR FIRST NATIONS, 1993; FOR WHITES, 706; FOR ASIANS, 353. IN 1986 BLACKS CONSTITUTED 7.1 PERCENT OF ONTARIO’S PRISON POPULATION; BYT 1992-93, 15.3 PERCENT, AN INCREASE OF 203.6 PERCENT (COMPARED TO ONLY A 23 PERCENT INCREASE FOR WHITES). ALTHOUGH BLACK WERE LESS THAN 3 PERCENT OF THE POPULATION.}}

5) FINALLY, HE IS POOR

[IN THE USA, ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF JAIL AND PRISON INMATES WERE UNEMPLOYED (WITHOUT FULL- OR PART-TIME WORK) PRIOR TO BEING ARRESTED, A RATE CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN THAT OF ADULTS IN THE GENERAL POPULATION. AMONG INMATES IN 1996 MORE THAN HALF WERE NOT EMPLOYED FULL-TIME PRIOR TO ARREST, AND ABOUT HALF REPORTED PREARREST INCOMES BELOW $7,200 A YEAR}

[IN CANADA, CRIME RATES ALSO APPEAR TO BE DISTRIBUTED BY CLASS. HISTORICALLY, WORKING CLASSES WERE ASSUMED TO BE MORE CRIMINALLY INCLINED BECAUSE OF DENIED OPPORTUNITIES AND HARSH SOCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. OTHERS SEE THE NATURE OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY REFLECTS A CLASS BIAS. A CLASS BIAS CAN BE DETECTED IN THE APPLICATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN TERMS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES A CRIME, WHO AND WHAT ARE SINGLED OUT AS CRIMINAL, AND HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE PROCESSED THROUGH THE SYSTEM. == {CRIME IS PERCEIVED BY THE GENERAL POPULACE AS AN OBJECTIVE THREAT TO WHICH THE SYSTEM REACTS, BUT IT IS A REALITY THAT TAKES SHAPE AS IT IS FILTERED THROUGH A SERIES OF HUMAN DECISIONS RUNNING THE FULL GAMUT OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM} == LAWS THAT DEFINE CRIME TEND TO REFLECT THE INTEREST OF THE RICH AND POWERFUL; THERE IS A CLASS BIAS IN THE PREFERENCE TO DETECT STREET CRIME RATHER THAN CORPORATE CRIME; AND CLASS BIAS IS REFLECTED IN DIFFERENTIAL CONVICTION AND SENTENCING FOR STREET CRIME AND WORKING CLASS OFFENCES – IN OTHER WORDS, THE POOR DO NOT NECESSARILY COMMIT MORE CRIME. THEY ARE SIMPLY MORE LIKELY TO BE CAUGHT AND CONVICTED THAT THE AFFLUENT.

AS JEFFREY REIMAN PUT IT == “THIS IS THE ‘TYPICAL CRIMINAL’ FEARED BY MOST LAW-ABIDING AMERICANS. POOR, YOUNG, URBAN (DISPROPORTIONATELY) BLACK MALES MAKE UP THE CORE OF THE ENEMY FORCES IN THE CRIME WAR. THEY ARE THE HEART OF A VICIOUS, UNORGANIZED GUERRILLA ARMY, THREATENING THE LIVES, LIMBS, AND POSSESSIONS OF THE LAW-ABIDING MEMBERS OF SOCIETY, NECESSITATING RECOURSE TO THE ULTIMATE WEAPONS OF FORCE AND DETENTION IN OUR COMMON DEFENSE [PP.59].”

**SOCIOLOGICAL CONCLUSIONS: