Crime in the City of Toronto: A Social and Local Issue

Abstract

The City of Toronto, like many other jurisdictions across North America, is currently experiencing a large increase in the rate of crime. Although crime is a multi-faceted issue, with many causes and potential remedies, in recent years there has been a general assumption, based primarily on an equity-focused reading of the literature on crime, that poverty is the main driver of crime and ergo the remedy needs to be financial. This has led to the position that because poverty supposedly is a prime generator of crime, therefore enforcement of the law is a form of punishing individuals for their economic circumstances. The result: criminal justice policy focused on remedying the wrong problems will be counterproductive, just as it appears to be now.