Penny for your thoughts… Crime is Costly
Crime costs Canadians. It reaches deep into our wallets and our overall quality of life. And who is doing most of this spending? Mainly victims. When we crunch the cost of policing, corrections and courts, we’re looking at $31.4 billion in 2008. For pain and suffering, we’re looking at $68.2 billion. That’s billions people (and if I could stand on top of a mountain and sing these numbers – knowing that you’d all hear me – I would).
Victims are forced to spend, spend, spend. In fact, victims carry the majority of the financial burden, spending a whooping $14.3 billion in 2008. They pay for lost wages, stolen property, medical attention, and the list goes on. Once again, that’s billions.
So why is this important you ask? It’s important because the “tougher” we get on crime, the more we spend reacting to crimes that have already happened.
The more we spend reacting, the less we spend being smart on crime, on investing in our communities, and building resilience in our kids.
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“I have yet to see […]any evidence that would convince me that [Bill C-10] will actually make victims safer or society safer in the long run. I think the challenge or concern I have with the bill is that it is being promoted as a pillar of the commitment to victims of crime, when we see[…]very little that will change the day-to-day circumstances of those people who are victimized by crime.” Steve Sullivan, |
Judge Barry Stuart in a radio interview on The Current asked an interesting question and speaks to how we can be smart on crime, “When are we going to stop spending money on the justice system, money that needs to be spent on questions of poverty, education, health, opportunity? These are the things that are going to change the flow of people into our jails”. (Judge Barry Stuart’s interview begins at minute 4:45 in the program).
Now we know that crime and the criminal justice system are expensive to taxpayers, especially victims. But aren’t poverty reduction strategies, more effective education, and increased health care support expensive? And how are we suppose to believe people like Judge Stuart, who tell us that this will reduce the amount we spend on jails?
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy can answer that for us. As a nonpartisan group, they are well suited to develop a cutting edge-model to identify evidence-based policies that give taxpayers the best return on their investment. And it just so happens that the model has extensive experience in the criminal justice system. Their cost-benefit analysis of the criminal justice system (United States) showed that efforts redirected toward proven crime-prevention and treatment programs result in:
- Reduced crime rates AND juvenile-arrest rates in comparison to the US average
- Lower incarceration rates compared to the national average
- Eliminated need for new prisons, closure of adult prison & juvenile-detention facility
- A saving of $1.3 BILLION per two-year budget cycle (there’s that billion again)
When we invest in prevention, we invest in safer, healthier and more sustainable futures for our kids.
Crime is costly… but it doesn’t have to be.
**Additional resource: “Rights for Victims of Crime: Rebalancing Justice” by Irvin Waller.
Author: Kayla Follet – Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Kayla Follett studied at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick where she completed an honours degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. Upon graduation she travelled and worked in different community settings. She is now working toward her Master of Social Work degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and happily fulfilling her Practicum Placement at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council.