Law -
Crime
During
the 19th century, and most of the 20th, Britain
enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as an
unusually safe and crime-free nation, compared to
the United States or continental Europe. No
longer. Not surprisingly to many observers, the
violent crime rate has risen dramatically and
steadily since gun bans have been instituted.
That's a trend seen wherever strict gun control
laws have been implemented. And that's the part
of the story British officials have tried to keep
under wraps. A headline in the London Daily
Telegraph back on April 1, 1996, said it all:
"Crime Figures a Sham, Say Police." The
story noted that "pressure to convince the
public that police were winning the fight against
crime had resulted in a long list of ruses to
'massage' statistics," and "the
recorded crime level bore no resemblance to the
actual amount of crime being committed." For
example, where a series of homes were burgled,
they were regularly recorded as one crime. If a
burglar hit 15 or 20 flats, only one crime was
added to the statistics. More recently, a 2000
report from the Inspectorate of Constabulary
charges Britain's 43 police departments with
systemic under-classification of crime – for
example, by recording burglary as
"vandalism." The report lays much of
the blame on the police's desire to avoid the
extra paperwork associated with more serious
crimes.
People living in
England and Wales are at greater risk of falling
victim to crime than citizens of most other
industrialised nations, according to a study
published yesterday. The International Crime
Victims Survey, based on 34,000 telephone
interviews across 17 countries, found that 26 per
cent of people - more than one in four - in
England and Wales had been victims of crime in
1999. The figure for Scotland was 23 per cent and
in Northern Ireland 15 per cent. Jack Straw, the
Home Secretary, said the research confirmed
previous evidence "that levels of
victimisation are higher than in most comparable
countries for most categories of crime". Mr
Straw said that although the police and other
agencies were working hard to reduce crime,
"no one should be under any illusions about
the challenges ahead".
Terrified old
folk who asked police for protection against
stone-throwing yobs were told, “Tape your
windows so you won’t be hurt by flying
glass.” Instead of vowing to catch the
thugs, cops gave people tips on defending their
homes at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting. Inspector
Mark Thomas urged them to criss-cross windows
with tape. Retired decorator George Tibetts said,
“I just couldn’t believe my ears. It
was as if he was saying the police can’t
stop the yobs so put up the barricades and take
cover. It’s ludicrous. I grew up in World
War Two and remember taped-up windows and
bombers. But what we want now is more beat
bobbies to sort out these yobs, not sticky
tape.”
George, a spokesman for 40 old people at a
bungalow complex at Wordsley, West Midlands, has
fitted CCTV cameras, lights, AND taped his
windows as an extra precaution. He added,
“I’m one of the lucky ones whose
windows have been hit by stones but not broken.
My neighbours have had a lot of windows smashed
and one even had part of a car drive shaft hurled
into the lounge.” Police admitted the advice
was “perhaps a little drastic.” A
spokeswoman added, “People should keep an
eye on each other’s properties.”
Evidently the police can't.
Next >>>
Home
These articles
have been collected from various sources. If you
are the copyright owner of any of them, contact us for
either a credit and link to your site or removal
of the article.
--------------