Reform

You may have seen the news today, talking about the most dangerous towns and cities in England & Wales.

“Experts” have denounced the figures as being “fundamentally flawed”. I just wonder what the motive is behind the figures.

The “think tank” (my interpretation of this phrase is a group of people with nothing better to do and no job to go to) responsible for this startling piece of research are known as Reform.

I’ve had a look at their web site – here are a few snippets from the opening page.

Reform is an independent, non-party think tank whose mission is
to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic
prosperity.

They must be really good at it, because everyone in Government is listening to them and huge strides have been made – NOT!

Our vision is of a Britain with 21st Century healthcare, high standards in schools, a modern and efficient transport system, safe streets, and a free, dynamic and competitive economy.

Hallucinatory drugs are bad for you.

I then moved to the Crime section, which is where it gets really interesting.

Policing and penal reform are long overdue. Crime in England and Wales is amongst the highest in the developed world.

Hasn’t policing been reformed to death? Penal reform – might be nice. High crime – is that because we are the only country daft enough to record everything that might be a crime, whether it is or not?

On the sidebar, there are links to various topics relating to crime and policing. One of them mentions that another “independent think tank”, namely Civitas, believe that the real level of crime is much higher. Easy assumption to make, but where’s the proof?

Then we get to the “Police” section, where Reform open up with this cracker

The police are responsible for what happens to crime. Rising crime since the 1960s has partly been the consequence of police failure.

WHAT?

They then go on to say

Crime began to fall in the mid-1990s, but since police detection rates also fell over the period from 1991 to 2004 (from 29 to 23 per cent), it is wrong to attribute the fall in crime to police success.

So it’s the fault of the police when crime goes up, but it isn’t anything to do with the police when it goes down. How can that be right?

The site talks about prison and crime rates, drawing the amazing conclusion that crime falls when criminals are locked up. No shit, Sherlock!

Have a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

Another dose of common-sense from the papers

From the Wolverhampton Express and Star today, bless ‘em.

It will not have escaped the attention of crime victims that at least one
section of the community seems to be doing rather better than most at securing
compensation for claims of injury and assault.

Figures released by the Government show that this lucky group received
more than £4million last year – nearly doubling the payouts for 2004-05.

Much of the cash was handed out uncontested, which begins to make the
odd claim for a slip or a trip, perceived abuse or harassment or even a little
medical negligence appear to be what some dodgy characters might see as “a nice
little earner”.

Astonishing as it seems, it is not the victims of crime who are
benefiting from this particular compensation bonanza, but the criminals
themselves.

It’s the ones who are behind bars, not the ones outside trying to
rebuild shattered lives who seem to be coining the compo.

Too late it seems comes the warning that prisons could fall foul of
compensation culture. The figures indicate the curse has already struck.

Undoubtedly there will be genuine cases, but the news still jars at a
time when prison officers themselves are engaged in a campaign against reforms
proposed in December’s Green Paper which would limit compensation to the victims
of crime.

The figures have been published only days after new Home Secretary John
Reid has been forced to announce that the Government has been embarrassed into
revisiting the level of compensation offered to victims of the London bombings
in July last year.

Mr Reid says the Government is seeking to improve compensation for the
victims of criminal and other injustices. But how does that square with another
plan that talks about capping the maximum compensation that will be paid to
people who have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned for crimes they haven’t
committed?

Again it appears to be indicative of the Government’s muddled thinking
on crime, criminality and the perception of what exactly justice means in
Britain today.

Soft on criminals, tough on the victims of crime, apparently.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

Vandals cut ambulance transmitter

BBC NEWS England West Midlands Vandals cut ambulance transmitter

Would it be too much to wish that the moron responsible for this had an accident on the way back and died because the control room couldn’t contact an ambulance?

It never happens, does it?

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

A media view on routine arming

The Wolverhampton Express and Star has the following on the Comments page. I think it hits the nail right on the head and shows the difference between local and national journalism.

National papers tend to go for the dramatic headline, whereas the locals (in my opinion anyway) tend to reflect the feelings of their readers. If my opinion is right, then this local has my support.

It has shocked many that, despite the constant threats from guns and
knives, three out of four police officers still would not want to go onto our
streets bearing firearms. Almost alone in the world, our policemen do not carry
guns as a matter of course.

But who would want to be a policeman or woman carrying a gun, knowing
that every time you had to use the weapon you faced the risk of being
disciplined by your own force or sued by a criminal?

Even for unarmed police officers, tackling a criminal has become a
legal minefield. Pc John Ashurst, a policeman for 11 years, has received two
bravery awards. And yet, today, he is facing disciplinary action after arresting
a teenager suspected of threatening a headmaster with a knife.

After Pc Ashurst gave chase there was a struggle and the youth banged
his head. The teenager needed three stitches, made a complaint and Pc Ashurst
was detained for five hours questioning and remains under investigation.

And this is not an isolated case. We have become a society where the
first thought is to sue. A criminal is arrested and almost automatically alleges
police brutality. Aside from the physical risks of their job, police officers
face a constant danger of being sued or prosecuted for “traumatising” some petty
crook or thug every time they make an arrest.

Who can blame them for shying away from the potential risks of carrying
a gun. The lawyers who profit from these worthless cases must be salivating at
the prospect. Within a few weeks of our police being armed, the courts would be
packed with cases as wounded criminals or their relatives sought
compensation.

Our police are already sick to the back teeth of red tape and legal
threats for doing their job. The implications of being issued with firearms are
enough to make the most intrepid officer think twice.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

Drugs baron jailed for 22 years

BBC NEWS England London Drugs baron jailed for 22 years

Can someone set a reminder on their calendar to make sure this bloke is deported upon release?

I would do it, but if he serves his full term (yeah – right!) I will have retired and be spending my pension before the government of the day snatches it off me to give to asylum seekers or something.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

PM in justice system shake-up call

From the Daily Mail – Tony Blair has called for a radical shake-up of the criminal justice system to ensure that the security of law-abiding people is put ahead of the rights of offenders.

My response – Wasn’t it his party that put the system into the mess that he now feels the need to get it out of?

The Prime Minister said it was time for a “profound re-balancing” of the debate on civil liberties to ensure that wrong-doers pay the penalty for breaking the rules.

How long have we been saying this? What does Mrs Blair think?

Mr Blair said the criminal justice system was the public service “most distant” from what reasonable people expected.

And who put it there?

Mr Blair signalled that he believed far-reaching reform was now needed to tackle the problem, saying: “We cannot reform (the criminal justice system) unless we change radically the political, even philosophical, context in which it operates. I believe we need a profound re-balancing of the civil liberties debate.”

Is this a reform of the reforms that caused the chaos in the first place or is this a reform of things that haven’t been reformed yet just to make sure that everything has been reformed to death?

Mr Blair added: “We should not have to fight continual legal battles to deport people committing serious crimes.

We probably wouldn’t have to if you hadn’t capitulated and allowed the Human Rights Act onto the statute books. No doubt the good lady has managed to bank a few pounds for a rainy day on the strength of some of the bizarre cases she has been asked to defend?

We cannot allow violent or drug-abusing offenders to be put back out on the street again without proper supervision and, if necessary, restraint. We cannot have bail requirements, probation orders or community sentences flouted without proper penalty.

Welcome to our world at last, Mr Blair! I wait with eager anticipation the results of the “far reaching reforms” that will no doubt flood out of the Home Office. The acronym writers are polishing up their pencils and the press office are typing out the headlines as we speak,

Let me know when it’s all running smoothly, so I can stop holding my breath!

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

The cost of keeping John Prescott:

The cost of keeping John Prescott: £3.8m the Daily Mail

If you feel that it is inappropriate and insulting for this man to be receiving the benefits that he does, then send an e-mail to the Daily Mail.

Go to the article and send a message that will be forwarded to the Prime Minister.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

Fred Dibnah

I’ve been really sad today and watched the life of Fred Dibnah on UKTV History.

It’s not that I’ve got an obsession with chimneys or steam engines, but just that he first appeared on TV when I was a lad and it is interesting to see how times have changed.

One of the most interesting things is the attitude to safety on demolition sites in the 70’s and 80’s. No hard hats or safety boots, no fences or signs. Old chimneys being demolished by chipping out the bottom and setting them on fire. Kids running around as the chimney collapses, with a couple of local bobbies coming along to see what was happening.

Funnily enough, despite the total lack of warning notices, safety equipment or men in flourescent jackets, no-one seemed to get hurt. Perhaps it was because they knew that their fate lay in their own hands.

I sometimes think the country has gone soft because so many people expect others to look out for them instead of taking responsibility. I blame “no win-no fee” solicitors who have made it profitable to trip over things that people used to avoid, without the need for lots of warning signs

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

CPS decision on pursuit PC

BBC NEWS England Southern Counties No charges for death crash police

Police officers, in the execution of their duty, follow a stolen car.

Stolen car crashes, killing all the occupants.

Why, oh why, oh WHY does the driver of the police car have to be held responsible? These kids made the choice, stole the car and drove it. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have crashed anyway, killing themselves and perhaps other innocent motorists?

The CPS have (for once) made the right decision. The coroner should now record a verdict of unlawful killing against the four passengers and death by misadventure on the driver, who is ultimately responsible for this tragic outcome.

Whether the families of the dead teenagers will ever accept that their fate was their own doing is another issue.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!

Feedburner

I’ve put a link to Feedburner on the sidebar, to make it easier to subscribe. This of course assumes that you want to visit more than once.

Does anyone know how to syndicate Haloscan comments? I can subscribe to the comments on some blogs, but not on Blogger ones.

Any assistance would be rewarded with a mention.

© Stan Still 2006 – if you want to copy my stuff, it would be polite to ask first!