Crime MUST be falling !

[Fareast]

Mr. Straw, one of our two most wonderful Home Office Personnel Outreach Workers, has just urged magistrates not to send our criminals to jail unless absolutely necessary.

 

This is despite [ or because of ! ] a record number of prisoners in our prisons which are, reportedly, bursting at the seams. Not only that, but we already don't send a fair number to prison but dish out alternative punishments ; i.e. 30 years ago people might well have ended up in the nick who no longer do so. Also, of course, we let 'em out earlier nowadays, usually about half-way through.

 

All this must be puzzling for some of the U.K. public who are often told that, really, there hasn't been an increase in crime over the years, only a PERCEPTION that crime has been out of control for the past 30 years or more. " Shurely shome mishmatch somewhere, governer. " ??

[BasilRathbon]

The population is increasing but the percentage of the population being convicted of crimes is falling, therefore even though there are more prisoners, there's actually been a proportionate reduction in crime.

 

That might all be complete nonsense, but if you put enough spin on it it's hypothetically possible...

[Fareast]

I think the population for England and Wales in, say 1975, was around 50,000,000 and is now about 54,000,000 [ at any rate it's about 60 million for the whole of the U.K.]. Again, a rough guess, in 1975, the prison population was around 40,000 and it's now double that.

 

The amount of spin around in 1975 was X and is now about 5 X. I suppose if you say to a lot of people these days, " Well, we know the prison poulation has gone up but the total population has increased by about 4 million in the same period, " they would go, " Oh, yeah, right ; dat's it den, doh ! " They wouldn't have the maths to work out percentages.....etc.....due to our abysmal education system.

 

This is in spite of the fact that these days, crimes like shop-lifting and weekend

' binge-behavior ' is merely winked at whereas 30 years ago, it was treated much more seriously. Also, these days, there are many alternatives to prison and also prisoners can often get released after serving only half their sentence. [ In the days of low prison occupancy there was a sentence called ' Preventive Detention ' where the convicted were lucky to get about a sixth remission ! ]. Yet our prisons are chock-a-block !

 

Another ' spin ' story is that people report more crimes these days. Do they really ? If a lot of people on S.F. and in the press are to be believed, a lot of people DON'T report crimes as they feel that the police are ineffective or they're frightened of retaliation by the criminal, who is quite likely to be out on bail or serving yet another ASBO. I don't recall many people , pre-1975, saying they wouldn't bother to report crimes. Finally, if people in 1975 or 2008 don't or didn't report crimes, how on earth do we assess how many don't or didn't report them ? A bit like trying to compare two unknowable negatives ?

 

Oh, well, maybe the armchair experts ARE correct and we ARE imagining that crime is now a much more serious problem. Maybe someone has been putting ecstacy in the water supply and we are all hallucinating ?

[Don_Kiddick]

well, hang the lifers for a start, that should make some room.

 

Immediate extradition for foreigners who commit crime with no chance of return to our shores in this lifetime.

 

State controlled castration for no hope slack jawed chavs to end the cycle of criminal interbreeding programmes that occur in every inner city.

 

 

 

Any more?

[BasilRathbon]

All Leeds United fans, dog owners who don't clean up after their dogs and anyone owning a record by James Blunt to be buried alive on an island in the Outer Hebrides.

[Chopsie]

Tough on James Blunt, tough on the causes of James Blunt

[Space]

I think James Blunt is rhyming slang.