Britain Is Now The Crime Capital Of The West

Independent (UK) ^ | 7-14-2002 | Sophie Goodchild

[blam]

Britain is now the crime capital of the West

By Sophie Goodchild Home Affairs Correspondent
14 July 2002

England and Wales now top the Western world's crime league, according to United Nations research.

The UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute reveals that people in England and Wales experience more crime per head than people in the 17 other developed countries analysed in the survey.

The findings are expected to cause further embarrassment to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who has pledged to have street crime under control by September.

This week, the Home Office will publish its White Paper outlining radical reform of the criminal justice system, in part to curb spiralling street crime and to punish more offenders. Government sources confirmed to the IoS that the reforms will also include empowering judges to tell rape-trial jurors about a defendant's previous convictions.

In the UN study, researchers found that nearly 55 crimes are committed per 100 people in England and Wales compared with an average of 35 per 100 in other industrialised countries.

The UN study analysed Home Office crime statistics for England and Wales and also carried out telephone interviews with victims of crime in the 17 countries surveyed, including the US, Japan, France and Spain.

England and Wales also have the worst record for "very serious" offences, recording 18 such crimes for every 100 inhabitants, followed by Australia with 16.

And "contact crime", defined as robbery, sexual assault and assault with force, was second highest in England and Wales – 3.6 per cent of those surveyed. This compares with 1.9 per cent in the US.

News of the survey comes days after the Government published its long-awaited national crime figures, which showed the first increase in burglaries and thefts for 10 years. A record 108,178 street robberies last year prompted the Metropolitan Police Federation to demand an extra 12,000 officers for London alone. The US, by contrast, has managed to reduce its crime rates, despite its reputation for street robberies and shootings.

Experts say this is the result of a committed policy of ploughing resources into training prisoners, finding them jobs after release and then monitoring them to ensure they do not reoffend.

The Government's reforms are also expected to include similar schemes to those in the US, where prison officers act as "mentors" to inmates both inside prison and on release into the community.

However, the success of these schemes will depend on how much money the Home Secretary receives from the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, in the comprehensive spending review. Last week, Mr Blunkett is understood to have told colleagues that "He [Mr Brown] doesn't like me" after the pair rowed over the Home Secretary's share of the new spending budget.

But government sources say that the Prime Minister has now personally intervened and managed to salvage a better deal for Mr Blunkett.

Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said any attempt to curb crime by reforming the criminal justice system would require substantial resources. "The whole package is massively expensive," he said.

Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said: "This just shows why it is ridiculously complacent for the Government to claim a respectable record on crime. The fact is, we have a crime crisis in our inner cities and no coherent programme from the Government to tackle it."

[blam]

Ain't socialism great!

[pabianice]

Yet another success for "common sense gun control"...

[Jon Geb]

I bet this story wont make it on DemacRATic underground.

[Torie]

I think the English stats are taking poor Wales down with it. :) I think the murder rate is much lower in Britain than the US, but I could be wrong. I seem to recall some flap about that.

[Timesink]

The US, by contrast, has managed to reduce its crime rates, despite its reputation for street robberies and shootings. Experts say this is the result of a committed policy of ploughing resources into training prisoners, finding them jobs after release and then monitoring them to ensure they do not reoffend.

Riiiiiiiiiight. Who's your expert, Ms. Goodchild? Michael Bellesiles?

[NewHampshireDuo]

Experts say this (the US' lower crime rate) is the result of a committed policy of ploughing resources into training prisoners, finding them jobs after release and then monitoring them to ensure they do not reoffend.

Maybe it's because over here a criminal stands a serious chance of getting his head blown off by an armed citizen.

[uncbob]

Ain't allowing all the queens subjects from the 3rd world to immigrate wonderful

[Shooter 2.5]

"finding them jobs after release

A brand new suit, a hundred dollars, a sweegee and a bucket.

[Paul Atreides]

You mean DUDU.com?

[Paul Atreides]

Speaking of which, didn't the crime capital used to be Washington D.C......another gun control zone?

[Pushi]

I didn't read the whole thing, but isn't that what always results from gun control?

[backhoe]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/711949/posts

Do Guns Save Lives?

Newsmax | July 7, 2002 | Dr. Michael S. Brown
"an interesting pattern in how many people successfully defend themselves with tiny weapons, like .22, .25 and .32 caliber handguns that are often derided by the anti-gun lobby as "junk guns" and "Saturday night specials." "

 

-Empty-Barrel Gun Policies-A legacy of nonsense from Clinton, Blair, and the Left--

-A Problem With Guns (Long... but SOOOO good)--

Shooting More Holes in Gun Control

Gun Control Down Under

HCI Aussie Style (read it and weep-or laugh)

The Great Australian Gun Law CON!

British Gun Crime Soars

Gun Crimes Surge in London

Canadian Gun Control Has Little Impact on Crime (Home Gun Confiscation/Resisters)

Israel is Arming Its Civilians - Why Aren't We?
... and cyberjournalist. His latest book is The Seven Myths of Gun Control. Topics: News/Current
Events Keywords: GUN CONTROL, ISRAEL, SECOND AMENDMENT, TERRORISM ...
beta.freerepublic.com/focus/news/646679/posts - 39k - Cached

Through the Looking Glass and Back Again - From Anti-gunner to Firearms Instructor in Four Months

[Shooter 2.5]

In the U.S., I think Chicago and D.C. are tied.
They also have the same mindset in their governments.

[Don Myers]

bttt

[DB]

No mention of the fact that we in the US are still armed...

That just maybe that has something to do with it...

Every time they restrict guns more the more the crime goes up... It is amazing to watch the denial of such basic and obvious relationships because the facts don't coincide with their emotions... I guess that is the very definition of a superstitious backward people...

[Jimmy Valentine]

If "Old Blighty", particularly London has a higher crime rate than we do it is time for some serious reflection on BOTH sides of the "pond".

God Save The Queen

[Shermy]

The US, by contrast, has managed to reduce its crime rates, despite its reputation for street robberies and shootings. Experts say this is the result of a committed policy of ploughing resources into training prisoners, finding them jobs after release and then monitoring them to ensure they do not reoffend.

I noticed that too. That's a lie, probably perpetrated to help support a government program agenda, no doubt ones these "experts" will profit by.

[sushiman]

hmmmm...i wonder if the enormous influx of refugees and illegals in the past 10-15 years has had an impact ? nah ...

[Rockyrich]

This week, the Home Office will publish its White Paper outlining radical reform of the criminal justice system, in part to curb spiralling street crime and to punish more offenders.

One could hope they would give the guns back to the people.

[ExSoldier]

The next reforms to take place in the U.K. will be quite similar to those used in that great Kubrick film:
"A Clockwork Orange"

Forced mental reprogramming for all of societies undesireables....start with the criminals and finish with the gunowners. These rest are already sheeple.