Snook Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Crime has dropped by 5% according to the British Crime Survey - the longest period of falling crime for 106 years, with a total drop in crime of 39% since 1995. There are also 500,000 fewer victims of violent crime than in 1995. 'Conservatives and Liberal Democrats called on the new figures to be taken as the benchmark for a drop and home office minister Hazel Blears said the BCS was "accepted as the most reliable source of information". ' Yet for all this massive drop in crime, people seem to be more afraid than ever... why is this?? '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.' MSN, I their report, do point out that 'recorded' violent crime has risen over the last year by 12%, even though actual violent crime has dropped 3%. This comes from the way in which crime is now recorded, with even the smallest affrays and common assaults having to be recorded by the police when before 1998 they weren't. I'm sure many people will doubt these figures, and I’m sure they are not without faults, but when all of the political parties are saying that these are the figures that should be trusted, and not using them against each other, there must surely be something in them. So why do people still feel so scared? Is it because of the media and its 'if it bleeds it leads' attitude, or is it because of first hand evidence? http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=543388 http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1266672,00.html http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/article.aspx?as=article&f=uk_-_olgbtopnews&t=11881&id=64604&d=20040722&do=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk&i=http://newsbox.msn.co.uk/mediaexportlive&ks=0&mc=5&lc=en&ae=windows-1252 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildrneil Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 *warning potential conspiracy theory ahead* Fear of crime can actually be very usefull for some parties - after all what easier way is there for a government to introduce new laws that curtail your freedoms than by telling you its for your own good and will keep you safe - see also islamic terrorist hiding round every corner and the 'satanic child abuse' witch hunts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titian Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Gone are the days when children used to play outside then come home at bedtime. If I let my children do this you can probably up the odds of something happening to them. If we all let our children play outside then the odds would be the same as they are now. Just a little example. The media is to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snook Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Children are always playing out round here! Noisy gits!! The coverage of crime in the media goes up every year, and yet actual crime goes down. Of course, we now have the 'threat' of terrorism to contend with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titian Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Originally posted by Snook Children are always playing out round here! Noisy gits!! The coverage of crime in the media goes up every year, and yet actual crime goes down. Of course, we now have the 'threat' of terrorism to contend with. Yeah, that's why I want mine to play outside allllllllll ddaaaaaaayyyy. So I can have some peace!! lol I could end them down the road to yours Snook if that is where the kids are at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snook Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 Thanks for the offer, but already too many round here. Funnily enough, none have every been attacked, killed, raped, mugged, shot at, or anything like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 Originally posted by Snook Yet for all this massive drop in crime, people seem to be more afraid than ever... why is this?? '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.' So why do people still feel so scared? Is it because of the media and its 'if it bleeds it leads' attitude, or is it because of first hand evidence? Surely the answer's in your quote from the Independent ? For the tabloid press bad news is good news....sensational crime reporting and 'exclusive interviews' with victims sells newspapers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snook Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 It just seems though, that people want to buy into fear. Its as if they can negate responsibility for so much by blaming it on society and the way crime is getting worse... if crime is getting less and less every year, why are people so scared? Shouldn't we be celebrating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evildrneil Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 It may be just the fact thats its one AM I can't sleep and feel like crap or I could be just getting all jaded but doesnt the whole fear mongoring approach to politics seem to be running rampant? Lets take a couple of examples (in alphabetical order before anyone shouts bias!): ANL -> the BNP are going to sweep to power and turn Britain into the 4th reich, murder all non aryans and then take over the world. BNP -> evil asylum seekers are coming here to steal all your tax money, houses, jobs and dilute your british ancestry. New Labour -> Sadam Hussain has biological / chemical / nuclear weapons ready to launch in 45 minutes to destroy us and our Middle East allies (who may or may not have similar weapons of their own but we will ignore that). Pretty Much Anyone -> the streets have become a cess pool over-run by criminals of all hues who wait behind every bush and lampost to mug / rape / murder / kidnap you. UKIP -> snail eating frogs and jackbooted krauts are going to steal your sovereignty and make you use dirty foreign money - egad! Theres an obvious advantage in hyping some nebulous and non existant threat, setting yourself up as the only people who can counter it and then hopefully sweep to power on a wave of populist anti-whatever sympathy. (Of course get it wrong and it all blows up in your face - can anyone say WMD!) However has politics been so mired in sleaze and apathy that this lowest common denominator, tabloidism is the only way to even vaguely pique the interest of an ever more fractured and isolated society? If so its a very depressing world we live in... p.s. sorry if this wasn't exactly on thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 So we are all imagining that a youth was stabbed to death on our doorstep the other day when camping, that a girl was stabbed to death outside a nightclub last week, that a manaic killed 4 people in N Yorks a couple of days ago etc etc. Get real, these are not made up by the press they are actual happenings. It suits the government to talk these things down then they can spoon feed us all this crap that some previous posters have made......we're exagerating it Round here people often don't report theft as you can be hung on the phone for hours and don't stand a hope in hell of having anything returned or the culprit being caught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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