What the hell is going on? (Recent increase in crime)

[cactustwirly]

So I live in a fairly safe, student area of Leicester.
So I normally feel safe, I've never felt threatened, even late at night.
But last week there were a few scary muggings, and last night there was a shooting a few streets down from me, luckily no one was hurt, and the police arrested the perpetrators.

So has anyone else noticed a sharp increase in violent crime, like in London?

 

[baz962]

Not quite sure how sharp but yes and im in Bedfordshire

 

[trainmania100]

There has definitely been a rise in violent murderous crimes in London, maybe punishments for murder need to be harsher and more threatening

 

[birchesgreen]

I'm sure its nothing to do with years of cutting police budgets and social service budgets

 

[baz962]

And possibly the human right rights stuff. It protects us in many ways , however it also means that the police and other authorities are not respected . In my youth , you would get a bang round the nogging off a copper , was enough to scare the pants off me.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Personally, I suspect that it is also as much due to the increased connectivity via social media and the web.

A knifing in Keighley gets reported by the local paper, then retweeted and shared across the country, where 10 years ago, no-one outside a 10 mile radius would have ever heard about it.

 

[greyman42]

Personally, I suspect that it is also as much due to the increased connectivity via social media and the web.

A knifing in Keighley gets reported by the local paper, then retweeted and shared across the country, where 10 years ago, no-one outside a 10 mile radius would have ever heard about it.

Why would that lead to an increase in crime?

 

[birchesgreen]

Why would that lead to an increase in crime?

Indeed it wouldn't change the crime stat, it might increase the perception of danger though

 

[Mag_seven]

I'm sure its nothing to do with years of cutting police budgets and social service budgets

You only need to look at the Railway Jobs and Careers section to see talk from serving police wanting to join the railway because moral is so bad in the force. And to think the Tories used to pride themselves in being the party of law and order!

 

[bramling]

So I live in a fairly safe, student area of Leicester.
So I normally feel safe, I've never felt threatened, even late at night.
But last week there were a few scary muggings, and last night there was a shooting a few streets down from me, luckily no one was hurt, and the police arrested the perpetrators.

So has anyone else noticed a sharp increase in violent crime, like in London?

I’m not so sure about elsewhere, however it certainly *feels* like there has been a sharp increase in London, and perhaps London’s more immediate surrounding area.

Whether this feeling is down to media coverage I wouldn’t like to say though.

Some of the London crime is definitely pretty nasty, although again I’m not sure that’s anything new.

 

[cactustwirly]

I’m not so sure about elsewhere, however it certainly *feels* like there has been a sharp increase in London, and perhaps London’s more immediate surrounding area.

Whether this feeling is down to media coverage I wouldn’t like to say though.

Some of the London crime is definitely pretty nasty, although again I’m not sure that’s anything new.

Well none of this stuff has happened at all within the last year, then you suddenly have an armed robbery, 2 muggings and a shooting within about 5 days.

 

[Esker-pades]

Well none of this stuff has happened at all within the last year, then you suddenly have an armed robbery, 2 muggings and a shooting within about 5 days.

Be very careful here. A single crime spike does not mean crime is on the rise. I've spent months doing this concept to death in various mathematics/statistics classes.

 

[RichmondCommu]

So I live in a fairly safe, student area of Leicester.
So I normally feel safe, I've never felt threatened, even late at night.
But last week there were a few scary muggings, and last night there was a shooting a few streets down from me, luckily no one was hurt, and the police arrested the perpetrators.

So has anyone else noticed a sharp increase in violent crime, like in London?

I would say that all muggings are scary.

 

[JamesT]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_Survey_for_England_and_Wales has crime trending down for the last couple of decades. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...ins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2018 is the most recent instance, which does say some of the more violent crimes have increased recently in London and metropolitan areas, but caution that it's too early to say if the represents a change to the overall trend.

 

[Geezertronic]

There has been plenty more violent crimes in Birmingham and the West Midlands for years now. Along with knife attacks, the crime of choice seems to be car theft via violent methods of which there appears to have been a ten-fold increase

 

[deltic]

As JamesT notes crime has generally been falling unfortunately the way our media works whenever new crime figures are released they concentrate on the ones that have gone up fuelling perceptions that crime is forever getting worse.

The OP may be surprised how much crime actually does occur in your local area you just never hear about it. In London at least you can look at maps of crime reported to the police on a monthly basis and I am shocked at how many incidents appear to take place on my street which I have never heard about.

Violent crime is very closely related to the number of young males in society and the use of drugs. Not sure where we in the demographic cycle with the former. We have seen a change in the nature of crime with the advent of the internet and social media with increasing cyber crime.

Overall you are still very unlikely to be a victim of a violent crime.

 

[cjp]

Why would that lead to an increase in crime?

Inspiration for a copycat crime to those with a poor civil conscience.

Repetition by way of publicity normalizes an event.

Advertising works by normalisation.

Politicians repeat things hoping a political statement becomes a "new truth" believed by many despite the inertia of the population and the truth that the " new truth" has no sound evidence behind it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There has been plenty more violent crimes in Birmingham and the West Midlands for years now. Along with knife attacks, the crime of choice seems to be car theft via violent methods of which there appears to have been a ten-fold increase

Part of this, of course, will be because it's now nigh-on impossible to nick a car by any other means than having the keys other than craning it onto the back of a lorry. Immobilisers built into the ECU have been incredibly successful as a crime prevention measure, though they have led to some slightly different forms of the crime such as violent methods or stealing the keys from the house.

 

[SteveP29]

20,000 fewer police since 2010
Youth unemployment up
Youth disenfranchisement
Poorest in society even poorer due to welfare cuts
Low paid jobs and zero hours contracts
Religious intolerance

There's 6 reasons I think of off the top of my head

 

[furnessvale]

You only need to look at the Railway Jobs and Careers section to see talk from serving police wanting to join the railway because moral is so bad in the force. And to think the Tories used to pride themselves in being the party of law and order!

I think you'll find the vast majority want to become drivers.

Even the police can't match those wages.

 

[Geezertronic]

Part of this, of course, will be because it's now nigh-on impossible to nick a car by any other means than having the keys other than craning it onto the back of a lorry. Immobilisers built into the ECU have been incredibly successful as a crime prevention measure, though they have led to some slightly different forms of the crime such as violent methods or stealing the keys from the house.

Quite right. As a victim of this type of violent crime in 2012 when four idiots smashed our front door in at 7:30PM for the keys to my car, I can safely say that it doesn't matter what protection you have on your car as they will always find a way. Take the recent spates of motorbike thefts in broad daylight in London, there is no fear of committing this crime either.

I can also safely say that you can immobilise the hell out of your car/bike but it makes no difference if they come for you as you pull onto your driveway/petrol forecourt/work etc... as they seem to be doing now.

 

[Puffing Devil]

It's a Grauniad report and may be too partisan for some, though it does suggest a government report links a rise in violent crime with cuts in police numbers.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...uted-to-rise-in-violent-leaked-report-reveals

Also worth considering is the Metro article which contracts May's speech to the Police Federation in 2015 where she accused them of scaremongering that reduced numbers would lay us open to more terrorist attacks and the appearance of troops on the street in 2017.

https://metro.co.uk/2017/05/25/ther...of-scaremongering-over-spending-cuts-6660878/