NCJ Number
74913
Journal
Canadian Criminology Forum Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1980) Pages: 57-64
Date Published
1980
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A statistical analysis of judicial data on robbery is presented, based on a Canadian task force report on armed robbery.
Abstract
A task force on armed robbery in Quebec recently (1980) submitted its official report to the Ministry of Justice. Research was conducted in the following areas: interviews with 67 robbery victims, 200 policemen, and 20 robbers; studies based on 169 presentence reports on robbery cases, on 68 juvenile robbers' files, and on 384 police dossiers; and a statistical analysis of the sentences and judicial data relating to the disposition of 500 robbery cases in the judicial district of Montreal in 1978. The overall findings of the survey indicated that 463 out of 495 individuals tried on armed robbery charges received a prison sentence, with only 6.5 percent receiving a suspended sentence and 20 percent of the defendants being sentenced to probation in addition to their prison term. Prison sentences averaged 3.1 years. Tabular data are given on sentences imposed on armed robbers classified by subjects' age and on delays between date of arrest and date of trial of the armed robbers surveyed. No judgments are made in this paper on the leniency or severity of the sentences imposed on the survey subjects. A selective bibliography on armed robbery with 31 entries is appended.