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Thread: Violent offences top million mark

  1. #1
    For England and St.George Senior Member ShadesWolf's Avatar
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    Default Violent offences top million mark

    Violent offences in England and Wales reached record levels in 2004-5 with police recording one million crimes - up 7% from the previous year.
    Police figures show 1,035,046 violent incidents against the person, excluding sexual offences and robberies.

    Total recorded crime fell 6% to 5.6m incidents, but gun crime was up 6%.

    Minister Hazel Blears stressed overall crime fell, saying the apparent rise in violent crime merely reflected better reporting and recording of offences.

    Ms Blears, a Home Office minister, also told the BBC that the separate British Crime Survey, which interviews people to ask if they have been crime victims, showed a decrease in violent crime.

    But shadow home secretary David Davis said the police figures were "further evidence that the government continues to fail on violent crime".

    "With violent crime continuing to spiral out of control, it beggars belief that the government's only response is to unleash 24-hour drinking on our town and city centres," he added in a reference to proposed drink law changes.

    Pilot call

    There was no great demand for extended drinking times, he told the BBC.

    "I see no reason to go ahead with 24 drinking until we've actually piloted, tested out some of the methods the government is proposing."

    For the Lib Dems, Mark Oaten said violent crime was "directly linked" to drink.

    "Our concern is that extending opening times for up to 24 hours will make the problems of alcohol-related crime worse, not better," he said.

    Ms Blears said the government had already promised to keep 24-hour licensing under review when it is introduced in November.

    She rejected the call by Mr Davis to pilot the liberalisation in selected areas arguing people from outside would flood in to take advantage of longer drinking hours.

    The police figures show there was a 20% fall in burglary and a 17% drop in car thefts. There were just under 11,000 gun crimes, up 6%, and 73 people were killed with guns over a 12 month period - five more than the previous year.

    Sexual offences rose by 17% to 61,000 but this was said to be partly down to reforms of sex crime laws and efforts by police and politicians to encourage more victims to come forward.

    The president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Chris Fox, meanwhile has defended police detection rates of 26%.

    He said policing was not just about catching criminals - it was about preventing crime in the first place.

    "There are millions of people who have not been a victim of crime that would have been if we hadn't focused on reducing crime," he said.

    Crime survey

    The government has also published the British Crime Survey, based on interviews with 45,000 people, which suggests violent crime is down 11%.

    Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he was "extremely encouraged" by the "very positive" figures in the British Crime Survey - which the Home Office regards as more accurate.

    "Although the BCS records an 11% decrease in violent crime, I recognise that this remains an issue of concern for many people and the increase in police recorded violent crime contributes significantly to the fear of crime," he said.

    The BCS estimates there were 10.8 million crimes in the year, although crimes against businesses and the under-16s are excluded.

    Another estimate of crime in England and Wales published three weeks ago by the Home Office suggested there were 14.7 million crimes committed against children and adults in England and Wales in 2003-04.

    Mr Clarke highlighted the government's Violent Crime Reduction Bill which he said would give new powers to police and local authorities to tackle violent criminals "and ensure they are effectively punished".

    "We have made significant progress on violent crime, but I accept that more needs to be done and the government is determined to achieve further reductions," he said.
    summary

    Violent offences reached record levels in 2004-5 up 7%
    Police figures show 1,035,046 violent incidents against the person, excluding sexual offences and robberies.

    20% fall in burglary - this I find surprising
    17% drop in car thefts. - As I also find this surprising
    There were just under 11,000 gun crimes, up 6%,
    73 people were killed with guns over a 12 month period - five more than the previous year.

    Sexual offences rose by 17% to 61,000

    police detection rates 26%
    ShadesWolf
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  2. #2
    Things Change Member JAG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Violent offences top million mark

    Not a very good summary, you left the best bits out.

    Total recorded crime fell 6% to 5.6m incidents
    So violent crime went up - which the police state is due to more drunk and disorderly offences being charged - but in the same survey, total crime fell.

    Now in the other report on crime by the different survey, the results are even more encouraging -

    The government has also published the British Crime Survey, based on interviews with 45,000 people, which suggests violent crime is down 11%.
    And they also stated that crime as a whole is down 6%, the same level as the other survey. Our government holds the BCS in higher regard, so it is clear that crime is falling and although recorded violent crime might be up, the real effect of it on our lives the BCS suggests has fallen.
    GARCIN: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.
    INEZ: Prove it. Prove it was no dream. It's what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one's made of.
    GARCIN: I died too soon. I wasn't allowed time to - to do my deeds.
    INEZ: One always dies too soon - or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are - your life, and nothing else.

    Jean Paul Sartre - No Exit 1944

  3. #3
    For England and St.George Senior Member ShadesWolf's Avatar
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    Default Re: Violent offences top million mark

    Police figures show 1,035,046 violent incidents against the person
    But thats the scary bit Jag
    ShadesWolf
    The Original HHHHHOWLLLLLLLLLLLLER

    Im a Wolves fan, get me out of here......


  4. #4
    Things Change Member JAG's Avatar
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    Default Re: Violent offences top million mark

    Of course it is a concern but the point is the police are increasingly dealing with it.
    GARCIN: I "dreamt," you say. It was no dream. When I chose the hardest path, I made my choice deliberately. A man is what he wills himself to be.
    INEZ: Prove it. Prove it was no dream. It's what one does, and nothing else, that shows the stuff one's made of.
    GARCIN: I died too soon. I wasn't allowed time to - to do my deeds.
    INEZ: One always dies too soon - or too late. And yet one's whole life is complete at that moment, with a line drawn neatly under it, ready for the summing up. You are - your life, and nothing else.

    Jean Paul Sartre - No Exit 1944

  5. #5
    For England and St.George Senior Member ShadesWolf's Avatar
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    Default Re: Violent offences top million mark

    police are increasingly dealing with it
    They might be dealing with it down by u mate, but they aint dealing with it up here
    ShadesWolf
    The Original HHHHHOWLLLLLLLLLLLLER

    Im a Wolves fan, get me out of here......


  6. #6
    Member Member Azi Tohak's Avatar
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    Default Re: Violent offences top million mark

    I thought Britain was a eutopia, free of crime. You know, ever since they got rid of guns.

    Because, as everyone knows, guns are bad m'kay?

    Azi
    "If you don't want to work, become a reporter. That awful power, the public opinion of the nation, was created by a horde of self-complacent simpletons who failed at ditch digging and shoemaking and fetched up journalism on their way to the poorhouse."
    Mark Twain 1881

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