On September 30 and October 1, 2004 in Vancouver, a diverse group of scholars, policymakers, the media, community representatives and the public met together to examine the relationships between fear of crime and contemporary crime control strategies.

In recent years there has been a growing perception that various forms of crime and unwanted behaviour are becoming increasingly problematic, yet crime rates, particularly violent crime rates, are dropping. Even before the tragic events of 11th of September 2001, many citizens had started to express their concerns and fears with issues of crime and security. For many observers, a law and order agenda has come to dominate discussion and debate about definitions of crime and its control. Newspaper articles, community-level discussions and policymaking all have become venues for people to voice their desires for harsher criminal sanctions and greater security measures. Fear of various real or imagined threats has become a dominant factor in how we understand and respond to a range of behaviours in society. A key consideration for those interested in crime and its control is whether our understanding of and response to various forms of unwanted behaviour are unnecessarily rooted in fear of crime and a desire for increased security and control

Some of the presentations and discussions were recorded and edited for broadcast on the CBC Radio programme Ideas on October 7, 1004. To listen to this fascinating discussion visit the Ideas website at: http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/calendar/2004/10_october.html