Crime Victims

     A victim of crime is often not considered because when we hear of a crime, all the focus is on the criminal. If a headline reads "Woman murdered by husband" our thoughts travel along the lines of "how long is he going to jail for?" and "wonder why he did it", not, "I wonder what the woman's family is thinking" and "I wonder if the woman's friends are in therapy". It's just not really something that intrigues us, or perhaps, the thought makes us feel guilty and sorry for the people so we like to pretend they don't exist. But if we ever stop to think about how a victim of crime, or someone who is associated with a victim, actually deals with all this pain and suffering, the answers are perhaps way more shocking then what we first thought. The effects of being a victim of crime can be split into two categories: short-term and long-term.
     Short term effects of crime victims would be things such as shock, oversensitive nerves, emotional downs, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, nervousness, required counseling sessions, lack of relationships, change of housing, disinterest, anger, stress, and extreme fear. Long term effects would be things such as over cautiousness/ fear, lack of interest, anti social behaviour, continued counseling sessions, anger, hatred, changed personality traits, post-traumatic stress disorder, and nervousness.
     An HIV-positive sex offender by the name of John Francis Dionne is wanted for kidnapping a young girl in Calgary. The 10-year old girl, who was shopping in a local mall, was accused of shoplifting by Dionne, who was posing as a cop, and forced to get into a green/turquoise Dodge Caravan on a Thursday night. The victim was released shortly after in a McDonalds restaurant. However, it is far from over for that young, 10-year old girl.
     That young girl won't find closure once she is 'safe' again.  She won't even find closure when the criminal is caught.  The victim of a crime, as well as being constantly reminded by his subconscious mind, has to relive the crime in order to tell others what has happened.  The victim will be interviewed by multiple policemen,  investigators, and reporters.  Every time that girl retells the crime, she is reliving it.  All throughout her teen years and her young adult years she will be greatly impacted by this crime; how she deals with it is key to how she grows up and responds to the world around her.  She will probably grow up being a lot more cautious with strangers, especially when alone.  She may even be over-cautious as a teen and may have issues with older men and trust.
     Softening the impacts victims have to deal with could be done in many different ways.  First of all a police officer, or whoever is the first one conducting the first interview with the victim could audio record the interview and use it as reference for others who need a similar interview so that the victim doesn't need to repeat himself so many times, therefore he doesn't need to relive the event so many times.  Also, creating a soft, compassionate environment for the victim, instead of disregarding them, will make a victim feel more comfortable and less stressed about their situation.
     Making a victim feel better and more relaxed after a crime is really important because these crimes are life changing and the shape the way the victim's view their lives and life around them.  Easing the pain and the stress could make a world of a difference to their lives.
     

Crime Rates in BC

     Crime rates in BC have been surprisingly low compared to previous years.  Crimes such as homicide, assault (both sexual and nonsexual), property related crime, weapon related crime, arson, and theft have all reduced in frequency, some, by quite a bit.  However, crimes such as drug use and distribution, and prostitution have all increased, some with surprising numbers.     
     So if violent crimes are rapidly decreasing in their probability, then why are we all so paranoid about being murdered or assaulted?  Part of it is a natural fear of having something horrific happening to us, but mostly it's because of the media.  News broadcasts over the radio and television all contain mostly crime-related stories, as well as the newspaper.  Crime is what interests people, so that's what the media wants to feed us.  For example, the headline "Woman Found Dead in Edmonton Alley" is a lot more interesting to us then the headline "Quebec Union Leader was Convicted Drug Producer".  We want to read about something exciting and that we can gossip about, not something that happens often.
     The drug bust that happened on September 27, 2010 was large-scale  but not that uncommon.  BC especially is home to many drug busts related to marijuana.  This drug bust, however, mostly consisted of cocaine and methamphetamine.  The drug bust was not a dangerous one (no one was injured) and was not uncommon either. 
      Being afraid of violent crimes and being over cautious is common in most people in North America, yet this is not necessary.  I'm not saying that it's not good to be cautious of crimes and that you shouldn't be fearful of anything because that would be stupid, but if you actually look at crime statistics and follow crime trends in BC and even Canada, you'll save yourself a lot of stress and paranoia.

Who Would Kill Their Spouse?

     The reason for murder leaves just about everyone confused and surprised.  The crime never ceases to amaze us.  We all wonder what could make someone willingly take another's life.  The notorious Demetrious Angelis was one of those people that leaves our heads spinning.  He not only, in an act of sudden rage, killed his wife of sixteen years, but also did it right before his two children's eyes.  Angelis told his eldest child, who was eight years of age at the time, to ignore his mother's cries for help.  After the death of his wife, Angelis reportedly, wrapped her in a carpet and took her to the bedroom.  He didn't call for help until three hours later, after taking his children to Sunday school.
      So what would make a man murder his wife in front of his two young children, completely ruining their emotional lives, out of complete rage?  My guess is that it started at his childhood.  He was probably brought up by unstable parents and was either physically or emotionally abused for most of his life.  He learned, at a young age, that physical actions help relive anger and stress.  It was reported that Angelis's wife, Lien Li, had been having an affair for thirteen years and had just decided a month prior to her death that she was going to leave Angelis.  Angelis had supposedly known about the affair for five years but had decided not to do anything about it for family reasons.  He must've had a large amount of anger and rage building up throughout those five years.  When he started suspecting that she was going to leave he decided to act on that anger. 
     Angelis probably felt his pride being squashed when his wife was going to leave him for someone that she had been with for thirteen years.  This is very dangerous because he was probably feeling powerless to do anything and was wanting to feel like he could take matters into his own hands.
     Anger and rage are very dangerous when added with a hurt pride and a broken childhood; and the results can be deadly.

Why Crime?

     Crime, as I have said previously, happens for an infinite number of reasons, but there are some key reasons that are commonly linked with violent (and non violent) crimes.  Anger and rage are one of those things that build up throughout years and years and unless their delt with in a reasonable manner, can be disastrous and deadly.  Evidence of this is present everywhere, all second degree murders are done with an incredible amount of anger and most third degree murders are done out of anger too.
     Abuse victims who are abused harshly from childhood are often enraged and feel powerless and feel like they need to control the situation.  This is where the roots of second degree murders reside.  
    

Why Does Crime Happen?

     The reason why crime happens can't be answered simply; it's not a one word answer.  The question can't even be answered in a 50 page essay.  Crime can happen for any reason at all.