Crime in England and Wales

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Is at a 32-year low, according to the stats.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/23/crime-falls-lowest-level-32-years

Drink and drug abuse is falling from favour with the young. I knew their generation had been broken by internet porn, but I didn't realise how boring it had made them.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Perhaps default porn censorship will help get the figures up again?

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

See, where my generation were out getting stoned and hitting policemen, they're all getting anal bleaching.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

"Make love, not war" - had to wait for the internet to work out

[Uncle Sparky]

Possibly they are following the Royal example and going to Vegas, baby!

[MikeH]

Our murder rate still a bit high by the standards of most developed countries*, but at least it's dropping.

*excluding the US.

[Kropotkin]

Crime statistics is notoriously unreliable. To bad that the article don't give much information about longer trends and how big or small variations tend to be from one year than the next. Overall crime tends to go doing with economic prosperity and - possibly - another coat of civilization over the inner core of human nature (whatever that is - but probably brutish and violent).

As for violence in England. I spent a couple of months in there last year. I was a bit disappointed that the local population didn't order several lagers and whiskeys at the pub's closing time and went out on the street to fight with each other. Perhaps this is a happy side effect of lifting the regulation of Pub's closing time. Perhaps I lived in a posh area. Two people, independently of each other and at different times, recommended me to go to Slough if I wanted to see things like that, but I never got round to it.

[MikeH]

If you are interested:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/bcs25.pdf

Summary - there was an increase and now we're dropping back to levels seen ~ 25 years ago.

[MOBIUS]

If you are interested:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/bcs25.pdf

Summary - there was an increase and now we're dropping back to levels seen ~ 25 years ago.

One theory is the effect of the ban of lead in petrol has been one of the contributing factors behind the reduction in violence.

[Kropotkin]

Thanks!

As expected there seems to be no clear correlation between the perceptions of and the actual level of crime over time. Interesting that the peak in violent crime in the mid 1990s seems to be the result of more domestic violence and between peers, while violent acts performed by strangers seems to be pretty much the same over time. Seems plausible that this is an effect of the economic situation.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Interesting that the peak in violent crime in the mid 1990s seems to be the result of more domestic violence and between peers, while violent acts performed by strangers seems to be pretty much the same over time. Seems plausible that this is an effect of the economic situation.

It doesn't really hang together. We've had five years of economic woes where one might have expected crime stats to record a rise. Instead, they've kept on falling.

[Dinner]

Well, Bugs has finally become the crotchety old man ranting about "kids these days!" It won't be long before he start shouting for them to "Get off my lawn!"

Or, then again, maybe he won't have to as they'll all be inside playing video games instead of walking on old people's lawns.

[Dauphin]

"Get on my lawn!"

[Dauphin]

It doesn't really hang together. We've had five years of economic woes where one might have expected crime stats to record a rise. Instead, they've kept on falling.

Do the stats include white collar (mostly bank) crimes. They just keep on coming out the woodwork..

[Dauphin]

I am reminded of the guy off Mock the Week, and his comments on crime stats.

Edit - can't find, but will try again later.