NCJ Number
202481
Date Published
2003
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses the United Kingdom’s fight against crime, based on crime rates, in relation to the Labor Government’s policy direction which is influenced by populism creating lost opportunities.
Abstract
Between 1995 and 1999 there was a 23 percent fall in the British crime rate. This decline has not been restricted to property crimes with a 20 percent decline in violent crime over the same time period. However, the emphasis under the current U.K. Labor Government, in its fight against crime, has been on violent crime, social disorder, and the need for increased numbers of police officers and prison expansion as opposed to economic policy to reduce property crime or government reduction strategies which have not occurred. In this chapter, questions and discussion are presented in an attempt to portray Britain as a violent society, a portrayal which is grossly inaccurate. Government policies fly directly in the face of research evidence ignoring expert opinion which is seen as surprising for a labor administration that stresses the need for evidence-led policies. In 1985, Labor was out of power and confronting an increasing crime rate and proposing to reduce imprisonment. Today, the Labor Government, facing a decreasing crime rate proposes exactly the opposite policy. The trend in the level of crime is constantly under pressure from being interpreted in a negative light and each progressive moment is submerged in populism. References