More details on crime

[andrewducker]

If you pick up a newspaper, turn on the television, or listen to a politician, you would think that Britain was struggling to cope with a rising tide of violence and lawlessness. Binge drinkers, gun-toting gangsters, serial sex offenders and teenage tearaways appear to hold sway over large parts of the country.

Yet Britain's most authoritive crime survey published today reveals the country is enjoying the longest sustained drop in crime for more than a century.

In the past nine years, the number of crimes experienced by people in England and Wales has fallen by 39 per cent.

Surveys have found that readers of red-top and middle-market newspapers such as the Daily Mail have the greatest fear of crime and the fears are out of proportion with reality.

Other studies have found that when householders are questioned about crime in their neighbourhoods they have a more accurate idea of the scale; it is only when they talk about what is happening nationally that they have an exaggerated fear of being a victim.

There has, however, been a genuine rise in some types of crime. Homicide has been creeping up, linked to the rise in gun crime. Offences of extreme violence associated with drugs, particularly crack cocaine dealing, are also on the rise.

With the long-term decline in lawlessness, why then were Mr Blair and Mr Blunkett launching an anti-crime initiative on Monday, promising an extra 20,000 civilian Community Support Officers, and further crackdowns on anti-social behaviour?

Part of the reason is voters are still complaining about low-level crime in their neighbourhoods - vandalism and street yobs - and there is a fear the country's binge drinking culture could see a rise in violence.

More here.

Comments

[sinpar.livejournal.com]

Wait... I thought you were supposed to scare people before the election, not afterward so they'd vote to toss all their personal liberties asided in favor of greater safety.

Great article.

[opusfluke.livejournal.com]

"Our greatest trick is convincing people that the greatest threat is drugs and terrorists!" Jello Biafra, Dead Kennedys.