Community Crime

Introduction

An Eastside neighbourhood in Old Montreal, Quebec has experienced a significant increase in street crime. Since the early 2000’s, almost all types of crime have increased. In response, the local police, city council and community organizations approached the federal government for more funding to address the crime problem. In response, the federal government has granted the Eastside neighbourhood a one-time $500,000 grant. However, before the funds are granted the federal government is requesting a clear and decisive plan. This has caused some problems as the police, city council and community organizations cannot decide how the money should be spent.

Your task: You have been hired by the Eastside neighbourhood to draft a policy that responds to the crime problem. They have hired you because of your expertise in Criminology and your in-depth understanding of why crime occurs.

Before you get started, you need to review the crime statistics, the economic and social profile of the neighbourhood and the “info” briefings from the police, city council and community organizations. Once you have a picture of what is going on in the neighbourhood, you will need to draft your policy. The interested parties would like you to address the following in your policy.

1. Based on the economic and social profile of the neighbourhood and the “info” briefings, how can the drastic increase in crime be explained? (5 Marks)

2. How can crime be reduced in the neighbourhood? The group has heard that there are many different criminological theories that would help explain the rise in crime. They would like to you to integrate three theories into your policy. You must be clear about the specific elements of each theory and how they relate to your policy. You should include the strength and weakness of each theoretical perspective (10 Marks)

3. Most importantly, how should the federal government grant of $500,000 be spent? You need to be specific here. The city council, community organizations and the police have all proposed different ways in which the money should be spent. You can choose to fund one of these groups or all of them. However, there is not enough money to accomplish what each group is proposing. You need to justify why you are spending the grant the way you are. You also need to discuss the implications of your decision (i.e. how would funding the council and not the police effect crime) (10 Marks).

Marking

You will be marked on your overall ability to integrate our course material into your policy. Your grade will also be based on how well your policy is informed by your three different theoretical perspectives (see the list below for potential theories). This will include how well you are able to identify their strengths and weaknesses. As always how you present your work also matters (spelling and grammar).