Reduce violent crimes in Canada through prevention and young people.

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Jeffrey Bradley is a doctoral student for legal studies at Carleton University.

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The newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney and the governing federal liberals have to work to reverse the trends for increasing violent crimes. Canada needs a Federal Minister with a clear responsibility for the contraception of violent crimes, which a deputy minister does not stop any other responsibility before this happens.

The evidence and success in other countries indicate that this approach could reduce violence and serious crimes by 50 percent over the next five years.

The Canadian murder rates have increased by 50 percent in the past 10 years and have returned to the level from the early 2000s. Black and indigenous Canadians are many times higher than the national rate. Intimate partners and sexual violence are at an epidemic level, with every third women experiencing some form in their lives.

The latest election campaigns in the federal government and the province gave the impression that more is sufficient for prisons and police work to stop violence and serious crimes.

But if long imprisonment reduces violent crimes, American cities would be the safest in the world – they are not. If higher police containers in Canada led to less violence, Edmonton and Winnipeg Canada's safest cities – they are not.

How to really reduce violent crimes

Current proposals for combating crime are missing concrete, evidence -based measures and proven strategies for public health, which is known to reduce violence crimes significantly and inexpensively.

In the past 50 years, research in Canada and internationally has determined a short list of programs that decrease by up to 50 percent within three years.

These initiatives are funded by renowned organizations such as the World Health Organization and the youth foundation fund of the United Kingdom. The non -partisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy has also shown the cost efficiency of many of these programs compared to the dominant systems of police work and detention. These initiatives include:

The scene in the UK and the USA

Strategies for public health that diagnose the risk factors that contribute to crimes and implement effective solutions have reduced crime in other countries in two halves.

In the 2000s, the Scottish city of Glasgow founded a unit with a small reduction in violence and organized young men who are most involved in a violent lifestyle. The results were a reduction of 50 percent within three years.

Until 2020, Great Britain has reproduced the model of violent reduction in more than half of the country, where independent reviews have proven to reduce violent crimes in areas with a unit by 25 percent. While some areas still have problems with youth violence, experts refer to work with several authorities than most effective when partners prioritized youth violence.

Not satisfied with this progress rate, which British Prime Minister Keir Starrer promised in 2024, to halve the razor crime in 10 years and dramatically reduce the violence against women in the same period.

In 2023, the administration of Joe Biden founded the White House office for the prevention of weapon power in the United States and provided the funds for cities to implement proven solutions, including the interveners of violence in the community.

Stakeholders said these efforts had contributed to reducing murders. After Donald Trump's government closed the office at the beginning of this year, a democratic senator submitted a draft law to build it permanently.

The Mayor of Boston supported her strategy for public health in the convening of the city departments, community organizations and experts in violence prevention. Mayor Michelle Wu promised to reduce violence by 20 percent within three years-to reduce it by 50 percent in two years

What the Canadian officials should do

The law on the Ontario police calls for strategies for public health, which are referred to as security and well-being of community transactions in order to combat the risk factors that contribute to crime and monitor results.

When she was elected in 2023, the Mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow demanded strategies to combat gun violence and violence against women. She called for “a scientific approach to public health, such as the one who has proven to be effective by Glasgow's efforts to solve violence as public health problems as effective violence.

Chow emphasized targeted interventions and surveillance results. But their financing has not yet followed the vision. In 2025, only 5 million US dollars were planned for prevention efforts, while more police and emergency services were needed 48 million US dollars to react to the increase in violence in Toronto.

No Canadian officials carry out intelligent planning or the affordable and intelligent investments in order to significantly reduce violent and serious crime.

Carney can and should go with a good example. The Federal Government can invest in the termination of violence before it happens through:

• Development of human capacity nationally for the security of intelligent community security;
• Establishment of a knowledge center for violence prevention;
• Shifting from its current financing model for short -term projects on partnership with the provinces through sustainable and adequate financing of effective violence prevention programs.

Prevention saves money

Parliamentary committees have recommended an annual investment facilities that corresponds to five percent of the expenditure for police and corrections or around 400 million US dollars by state and 900 million US dollars from other government orders.

Research, results and best practices make it clear that a reduction in violence and severe crime could be achieved by 25 percent within five years and a reduction in a decade by 50 percent.

That would lose 200 fewer in the next five years and more than 500,000 victims of violence less violence and more than 1.5 billion US dollars – spent annually for police and prisons.

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Carleton Newsroom

Thursday, May 1, 2025 in conversation
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