Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file (NS)

Detailed information for 2012 to 2015

The purpose of the project is to establish baseline information about individuals who have had contact with the Nova Scotia Justice system. This data will then be used to generate additional information about their involvement with Nova Scotia's other social services, namely education, health and those in other social sectors.

Data release - October 23, 2018

• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The primary objective of the proposed project is to establish baseline information about those who have been identified as either one time, repeat or chronic users of the Nova Scotia justice system. Furthermore, the project will seek to generate additional information about these individuals' involvement with Nova Scotia's other social services, namely education, health and those in other social sectors.

The data were collected by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) in collaboration with the RCMP detachments and Municipal Police Services in Nova Scotia, as well as Nova Scotia's Department of Justice.

The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file will serve to address an important gap in existing knowledge by providing a better understanding about the nature of re-contact with the justice system within Nova Scotia. In addition, this data file will add to the sparse information available about socio-economic factors that contribute to both initial contact, as well as repeated contact.

This data will be useful to policy-makers, justice partners, and academic researchers.

Reference period: The four-year period covering 2012 to 2015

Collection period: One time receipt of data from Nova Scotia Municipal Police Services (received June 2016), Nova Scotia RCMP (received September 2016) and Nova Scotia Department of Justice (received May 2017).

Subjects

• Crime and justice

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file contains information on those who came into contact with the police, the criminal courts and/or the restorative justice system in Nova Scotia between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2015.

More specifically, the initial contact with police had to have occurred between April 1, 2012 and March 30, 2013, and the follow-up period is 730 days after the initial contact.

Instrument design

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a longitudinal design.

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Data sources

Data collection for this reference period: 2012-04-01 to 2015-03-31

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are extracted from administrative files.

The CCJS sent out official requests for microdata via e-mail to the municipal police departments in Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia RCMP detachments, and the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.

It was requested that data be extracted from municipal systems, according to the specifications provided. Data were submitted electronically via Statistics Canada's secure electronic file transfer (eFT) site. Additional support files and documentation, such as reporting manuals and code books, were also provided to the CCJS.

Follow-up was conducted via e-mail and/or telephone.

The administrative data were obtained from the various databases of the relevant justice sectors (policing, courts and restorative justice). Data were obtained under S.13 of the Statistics Act. Data were cleaned by a CCJS technical officer, ensuring that a unique identifier was present on every unique record in each analytical file (policing, courts, restorative justice) so that the files could then be linked together.

The intended use of the data is to provide justice partners and academic researchers with policy and operation guidance that will respond to trends that are currently unable to be adequately identified. Furthermore, these data will assist our justice partners in the development of appropriate and efficient methods of helping to minimize re-contact with the system.

Data files from the various Nova Scotia justice sectors will be linked together to create one analytical file, which will then be linked to Statistics Canada's Social Data Linkage Environment. This will allow further analysis on the social-economic characteristics of offenders, potentially providing insight into why some offenders only have contact with the justice system once versus multiple times.

Error detection

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Imputation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Estimation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Quality evaluation

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

More specifically, the CCJS has a policy of not releasing any tables or cross-tabulations that may identify a particular address or person.

While personal identifiers were collected for the purpose of being able to link individuals both within and across justice sectors, once the linkages were completed, all personal identifiers were removed from the file.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

Data accuracy

The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators were not part of the methodology.

Response rates:
The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database.

Non-sampling error:
The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators in regards to non-sampling error were not part of the methodology.

Non-response bias:
The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators were not part of the methodology.

Coverage error:
The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators were not part of the methodology.

Other non-sampling errors:
The Nova Scotia re-contact analytical file was intended to be a census database. Formal data quality indicators were not part of the methodology.