It is an all toofamiliarparadox. Thecrimefigures show the risk of falling victimvictimto aoffenceis going down, but thepublicfear of crime remains as high as ever. Statisticsreleasedyesterday show that recorded crime in England and Wales fell by 9per centfrom July to September last year,comparedto the same period in 2006. But nearly two-thirds of people believe crime is increasing. It is notcredibleto argue that the police figures do not reflect the reality of the situation. The authoritative British Crime Survey of offending levels shows the same trend. All crime is down 32 per cent over the pastdecade.
In part the gap between statistics and publicperceptionsis due to the nature of the crimes beingcommit.Burglariesand vehicle thefts may have declined sharply, but knife and gun crime have risen. The latest police figures show a 4 per cent rise in gun crime. Meanwhile knife crime has increased by 28 per cent over a decade. These are the sorts of crimes which provide serious questions about the nature of our society, especially when children are involved. Such crime is largelyconfinedto particular areas, but it is hardly unreasonable for the public to be concerned about it. Nor is it unreasonable for the public to be concerned about anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and publicbingedrinking which do not show up in the crime statistics, but make life increasingly unpleasant for many people.
But what is unreasonable - and indeed dangerous - is the public's ignorance of the true scale of the problem of crime in Britain. This is partly the fault of the media. The populist press distorts popularimpressionsof the level of crime to serve its own reactionary politicalagenda. But most of theblamelies with the Government. For more than a decade it hasstokedthe public fear of crime withinterminablecriminal justice bills promising to "get tough" on criminals. But iteschewssensible ideas such as liberalising drug laws and reforming prison education, which would have a radical effect on the re-offending rate. Instead, it reaches for headline-grabbinggimmicks, such asmarchingvandalsto cash machines. The result of this noisy and ineffective policy-making is that whenministersturn around and point to a falling crime rate they have no credibility.
This has been illustrated perfectly by the recent behaviour of the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. Ms Smith gave a foolish interview last weekend in which she spoke of feeling unsafe walking the streets of London at night. But yesterday she was calling the latest crime figures "excellent news" and demanding that the Government be given credit for the reduction. It is no wonder the public remains confused about the true picture of crime in modern Britain when Government ministers themselves seem unable tomake their minds up.
Şok Eden Gerçek - the Shocking Truth
The shocking truth - Şok eden gerçek:
Friday, 25 January 2008
It is an all toofamiliarparadox. Thecrimefigures show the risk of falling victimvictimto aoffenceis going down, but thepublicfear of crime remains as high as ever. Statisticsreleasedyesterday show that recorded crime in England and Wales fell by 9per centfrom July to September last year,comparedto the same period in 2006. But nearly two-thirds of people believe crime is increasing. It is notcredibleto argue that the police figures do not reflect the reality of the situation. The authoritative British Crime Survey of offending levels shows the same trend. All crime is down 32 per cent over the pastdecade.
In part the gap between statistics and publicperceptionsis due to the nature of the crimes beingcommit.Burglariesand vehicle thefts may have declined sharply, but knife and gun crime have risen. The latest police figures show a 4 per cent rise in gun crime. Meanwhile knife crime has increased by 28 per cent over a decade. These are the sorts of crimes which provide serious questions about the nature of our society, especially when children are involved. Such crime is largelyconfinedto particular areas, but it is hardly unreasonable for the public to be concerned about it. Nor is it unreasonable for the public to be concerned about anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and publicbingedrinking which do not show up in the crime statistics, but make life increasingly unpleasant for many people.
But what is unreasonable - and indeed dangerous - is the public's ignorance of the true scale of the problem of crime in Britain. This is partly the fault of the media. The populist press distorts popularimpressionsof the level of crime to serve its own reactionary politicalagenda. But most of theblamelies with the Government. For more than a decade it hasstokedthe public fear of crime withinterminablecriminal justice bills promising to "get tough" on criminals. But iteschewssensible ideas such as liberalising drug laws and reforming prison education, which would have a radical effect on the re-offending rate. Instead, it reaches for headline-grabbinggimmicks, such asmarchingvandalsto cash machines. The result of this noisy and ineffective policy-making is that whenministersturn around and point to a falling crime rate they have no credibility.
This has been illustrated perfectly by the recent behaviour of the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith. Ms Smith gave a foolish interview last weekend in which she spoke of feeling unsafe walking the streets of London at night. But yesterday she was calling the latest crime figures "excellent news" and demanding that the Government be given credit for the reduction. It is no wonder the public remains confused about the true picture of crime in modern Britain when Government ministers themselves seem unable tomake their minds up.
" http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-the-shocking-truth-773842.html "