Lawless Britain and the Crime Industry

 

Update (2 April 2012) from the official Report "5 Days in August"


Following the riots that occurred in towns and cities across England between 6 and 10 August 2011, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Official Opposition established the Riots Communities and Victims Panel and asked it to consider:

• what may have motivated this small minority of people to take part in the riots;
• why the riots happened in some areas and not others;
• how key public services engaged with communities before, during and after the riots;
• what motivated local people to come together to resist riots in their area or to clean up after riots had taken place;
• how communities can be made more socially and economically resilient in the future, in order to prevent future problems; and
• what could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots.

What this blog said at the time:

As the police announce that arrests and convictions in the recent riots and looting have exceeded 1,000 we pause to remind ourselves that lawlessness is not a freak event in British culture. 

Perhaps we should be surprised that so few took to the streets in the recent festival of transgression. The millions of British people who already have a criminal conviction do not need a politics or a rationale to explain their actions.  It's the lack of a coherent or declared politics in the recent events that is most disturbing and a sufficient cause for future anxiety.

Let's remember that the BBC reported in 1999 that one third of British men will will have a criminal record before reaching the age of 40. Sadly, crime appears to be an inevitable rite of passage for a significant minority of young men.

What's striking here is age and gender. But it would also be a mistake to exclude colour, education and deprivation as key factors and determinants as well. These factors are well-documented in all crime and social statistics from government sources.

The riots are really the thin end of the wedge once we consider the potential for criminality in the population at large. As society begins to ponder the underlying issues we ought to reflect what kind of social forces have led to this sad state of affairs. A debate that confines itself to the recent actions of disaffected youth will not I suspect, adequately address the situation.

Crime is now one of the biggest industries in the UK. It's one sector that also grows during the recession. The direct and social cost has been estimated at £40 billion. The emotional and personal costs to victims are more difficult to evaluate. Examples of creative thinking on this topic would be very welcome.

More statistics from Crime Stoppers

• Criminals granted taxi licences - 209 convicted criminals in the West Midlands have been granted taxi licences. [11 January 2010]
• Rise in sham marriages for illegal immigrants - There has been a 54% rise in England and Wales. [8 January 2010]
• One theft a minute - Shoplifting has increased sharply during the recession, as has violence against UK shop staff - 22,000 were attacked. [7 January 2010]
• More young people tagged - 20,000 young people were electronically tagged last year - a 40% increase in three years. [15 December 2009]
• More drivers use mobiles - Statistics for the number of drivers using mobile phones. [11 December 2009]
• More support needed for Muslims leaving prisons - 12% of the prison population are Muslim. [10 December 2009]
• UK children trafficked by paedophiles - Barnardo's "Whose Child Now?" report from research with 1,000 children who had been sexually exploited. [17 November 2009]
• Less than 1% of recorded crime is solved with the help of the DNA database [11 November 2009]
• Shoplifting surge during recession - The value of retail goods stolen in the UK has risen by 20% during the economic downturn. [10 November 2009]
• Claims of female sex abusers grow - More children are reporting abuse by females to ChildLine. [9 November 2009]
• Too many violent offenders released - 54% of cases where prisoners are released meet the standards necessary to keep the public safe [2 November 2009]
• ID stolen in 74 per cent of burglaries and ID documents were the only things stolen in one in seven burglaries. [26 October 2009]
• Treatment of rape victims - 6.5% of rapes reported between 2007 and 2008 led to the conviction of the attacker. [22 September 2009]
• Rape crimes not recorded - Some UK police forces are failing to record more than 40% of rape cases. [21 September 2009]
• Trafficked children - 60% of rescued trafficked children later go missing from authority care. [14 August 2009]
• Mental health murders increase [29 July 2009]
• More knife deaths during anti-knife crime programme - More people have died from knife wounds during the government's Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP), although overall knife-related violence fell by 10%. [22 July 2009]
• One child killed every week because warning signs that they are living with a potential killer are being ignored. [10 July 2009]
• Criminal gangs cost UK billions - There are 30,000 criminals who are members of organised criminal gangs in the UK and they cost the country up to £40bn a year. [14 July 2009]
• Young people think knife crime outlook is bleak - 25% of people know someone who has been a victim of knife crime. [29 June 2009]
• Too many children locked up - Three-quarters of children who are locked up before they appear in court do not go on to receive a prison sentence, according to a new report. [17 June 2009]
• 7million use illegal downloads [29 May 2009]
• Knife-carrying statistics - More than 3,700 people were caught with a knife in England and Wales last year; only one in six received a sentence of six months or less. [28 May 2009]
• More child sex offenders arrested - The number of UK child sex offenders arrested in the last year has risen by 10% to 334. [20 May 2009]
• Crime falls but burglaries rise New statistics show the crime rate has fallen, but burglaries in England and Wales have increased. [23 April 2009]
• New statistics show many crimes fell in London last year, but business crime, rape and hate crimes went up. [17 April 2009]
• 120 per cent rise in victims of knife crime. The number of children admitted to NHS hospitals in London with knife wounds rose dramatically between 2003 and 2008. [31 March 2009]
• Credit crunch crimewave. Crime in Scotland "soars" because of the recession, reports The Daily Record. [24 March 2009]
• Hate crime against gay people 'forgotten' The Independent reports that hate crime against lesbians and gay men is a neglected issue. Crimes in London have increased by 5% in the past year and homophobic bullying in schools is rife. [23 March 2009]
• Online banking fraud doubles In 2008, cases of online banking fraud more than doubled, costing around £52.5 million in 2008 compared to £12.2 million in 2004. [20 March 2009]
• Recession leads to business crime The BBC reports businesses are blaming the recession for a rise in crime in the last year. [13 March 2009]
• Knife statistics drop The Daily Mirror reports that the number of young people being treated for stab wounds has dropped, and that fewer young people are carrying knives. [11 March 2009]
• More cannabis factories According to a report by the BBC, the number of cannabis factories raided by police has increased three-fold in London and five-fold in the West Midlands. [10 March 2009]
• 1 in 5 think domestic violence is justified An Ipsos Mori survey reveals disturbing attitudes to domestic violence in the UK. [9 March 2009]
• 1 in 3 carry knives The Youth Justice board has found that one in three young people carry a knife or gun and a crime is committed by a young person every two minutes. [6 March 2009] Hardline Scottish knife policy a success The Solicitor General of Scotland has announced that their tough policy on knives has resulted in more than 600 arrests. [2 March 2009]

 And more from  The Poverty Site :

• The number of 18- to 20-year-olds found guilty of an indictable offence fell between 1999 and 2004 but has remained broadly unchanged since then.
• 45,000 people aged 18 to 20 were found guilty of an indictable offence in 2009.  This represents around 2% of the age group.
• 90% of those found guilty are men.
• Black young adults are four times as likely as White young adults to be in prison and six times as likely as Asian young adults.
• At 7%, the proportion of young adults using class A drugs is somewhat lower than a decade ago.

Update (2 April 2012) from the official Report "5 Days in August"

Following the riots that occurred in towns and cities across England between 6 and 10 August 2011, the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Official Opposition established the Riots Communities and Victims Panel and asked it to consider:

• what may have motivated this small minority of people to take part in the riots;
• why the riots happened in some areas and not others;
• how key public services engaged with communities before, during and after the riots;
• what motivated local people to come together to resist riots in their area or to clean up after riots had taken place;
• how communities can be made more socially and economically resilient in the future, in order to prevent future problems; and
• what could have been done differently to prevent or manage the riots.