EntranceNational crime in England. Safety and crime in Great Britain
On a warm July night, Member of Parliament Hugh Pilkington was returning home from the House of Commons. It's hard to say with certainty what mood he was in, but let's assume he was in a good mood. Let us also assume that at that moment Pilkington was somewhat absent-minded, because his consciousness was completely absorbed in a very serious thought of national significance and scale. And just at that second, when Pilkington had already weighed the pros and cons and was close to a conclusion, someone threw a rope around his neck and began to strangle him. The attacker apparently knew his job well, because very soon the MP’s muscles went limp and he lost consciousness.
It happened on July 17, 1862. Pilkington survived, but lost his watch. Well, anything can happen. A watch is not such a big loss, especially since a member of parliament can afford to buy a new one. However, journalists (in particular employees of The Sun, The Times and the Observer) seized on this case with such frenzy that real panic began in the British capital (this went down in history as the Garrotting Panic of 1862): the reporters were so eloquent in their description "treacherous attacks" that the inhabitants sincerely believed that the city was overrun with stranglers (garrotters).
To be fair, it is worth noting that cases of strangulation did occur, but not in such a volume as to ring the alarm bell.
In general, the crime rate in England in the 19th century was quite high. As, indeed, everywhere in those days. Let's start with the fact that in the cities there were slums (rookery), where the criminal element lived in large numbers.
London slums, 19th century.
I believe they were very similar to our Khitrovka (see Gilyarovsky). In London, one of the darkest places of this kind was “Little Ireland” (many Irish) or, as it was also called, “The Holy Land”. This enclave of lawlessness and atrocities has existed since the 17th century. By the way, in 1850, Charles Dickens, accompanied by the valiant Scotland Yard officer Inspector Field and several other policemen, made a “tour” through the most haunted places of the capital, visiting, among other things, the “Holy Land”.
Charles Dickens
He used the valuable information he received to describe the life of the “lower classes” in his novels. So the surroundings and all sorts of details in “Oliver Twist” are absolutely reliable.
Everywhere, of course, there were pickpockets, dippers, who were divided into numerous specializations.
Some (toolers), for example, only robbed women. It is noteworthy that in their gangs the thefts were mainly committed by children. They worked as follows: gang members unobtrusively surround some person. Some of them start a conversation, saying how wonderful the weather is today. The lady replies that yes, they are magnificent, not like the day before... However, she does not suspect that while this sweet dialogue is happening, the nimble boy has already stolen her wallet.
In general, the fashion of that time was very conducive to stripping young ladies: corsets and skirts with crinoline practically provided the effect of an “unfeeling body.” And cutting the purse from the belt of a lady dressed in crinoline, I think, was much easier than fishing out a banknote folded in four from the bottom of the back pocket of her jeans. But I, of course, in no way want to say that the tweezers of those times were less skilled in their craft than modern pickpockets.
There was a separate category of bandits who treated tipsy citizens (such attackers were called bug hunters). Everything was simple here: they were on duty at the pubs, waiting for a worthy and, most importantly, client who had reached the required condition to come out. The rest was a matter of technique.
There were also a kind of aristocrats of trickery. Their name was swell mob. It was not so easy to join their ranks, because for this you needed to have a decent toilet and some kind of upbringing. These guys worked in the crowd of rich people at various high-profile events (for example, Royal Ascot). It is quite obvious that the mining here was much more substantial than in the market square. But specific skills were also required here: to be able to behave correctly, to know something about manners, etiquette and... in a word, you had to look like a gentleman (square rigged). A good Russian analogue is Pyotr Ruchnikov from “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed,” played beautifully by Evgeny Evstigneev.
There was also a “caste” of those who cleansed children (kinchin lay). This was mainly done by women with a trustworthy appearance or a respectable appearance of an old woman. “Hey boy, do you want to try some sweet candy?” The boy wants and obediently follows the generous aunt with cheerful blue eyes. But in the gateway, this kind soul undresses him to the skin (that is, literally takes off all his clothes, it was called skinning) and quickly disappears from the crime scene...
All rags were generally in good demand, because in those days people were poor, especially by modern standards, and many (even the vast majority) could only afford second-hand clothes. So there were no problems with selling stolen goods.
The authorities, of course, tried to fight crime and even achieved significant success in this difficult matter. But more on that next time.
The increase caused by the inclusion of new crimes in the statistics masks an 8% drop in the level of traditional crimes
Crime rates in England and Wales have doubled to 11.6 million offences, according to the latest figures.
The sharp increase is due to the inclusion of 5.1 million cases of Internet fraud and 2.5 million cybercrimes in the statistics.
Research in England and Wales shows that the number of major crimes, excluding cybercrime, continues to fall to 6.5 million cases in 12 months.
Some indicators recorded by the police show an increase of 5% or more, for example, cases of violence against people have increased by 25%. Sexual crimes, including rape, increased by 41%, which police said was due to victims being more willing to testify to such crimes.
Over the past year, police have recorded nearly 10,000 rapes and 20,000 other sexual crimes.
Statisticians say the figures reflect changes over the past 12 months in policing, which now responds not only to “reports of rape” but also to “reports of rape”. However, the number of adults who report sexual assault remains below 2%.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published an official report on fraud and cybercrime, which says the rise in "cybercrime" masks a fall in other crime from a peak of 19 million offenses in 1995 to 6.5 million in this year's June report.
ONS chief John Flatley said: “It was suggested that crime was not falling but was simply evolving into new forms of crime that were not covered by research. "Obviously some crime has moved online, but this must be seen in the context of the long-term decline in traditional crime."
Early estimates show that there were 5.1 million online scams in 12 months, affecting 3.8 million people. Just over half of them suffered financial losses, but in 62% of cases they were fully compensated.
Adding cybercrime to the overall statistics raises the crime rate from 6.5 to 11.6 million cases, while the June 2014 statistics contained data on 7 million crimes.
The ONS also counted more than 2.5 million incidents in which a user's computer was infected with a virus and thus access to important data was gained.
At first it was supposed to include these incidents in crime statistics, but it turned out that most viruses were blocked by anti-virus programs, and the computer owner could not be perceived as a victim. However, it is argued that phishing and other attacks are an offense under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and may be included in the statistics.
Including these 2.5 million incidents brings the total number of crimes to 14.1 million, doubling from last year.
Detailed data on online fraud shows that 14% of victims lost less than £20, 27% lost between £20 and £100, and 37% lost between £100 and £500. One percent lost more than £5,000.
Glen Watson, from the ONS, said: "We believe there were more than 7 million cybercrimes last year and their inclusion in the statistics does not indicate a recent rise in crime, but does indicate an increase in research."
“Furthermore, these new figures should be seen in light of the decline in more traditional forms of crime over the past 20 years, from 19 million in 1995 to 6.5 million this year.”
The Home Office disputes the addition of online fraud and cybercrime to the overall statistics, arguing that the data should be considered as first estimates and not as official statistics.
Chief Constable Mike Penning said: “Crime is falling and so will cybercrime. We are committed to fighting online fraud. This is not a new threat and the government is working to prevent it. In 2010 we created the National Crime Agency and invested £860 million in the National Cyber Security Program to identify links between fraud cases.”
“We have to move on. And we will do it. We work in partnership with producers and consumers to ensure crime rates are reduced. The number of victims of computer viruses has fallen in recent years, and bank card fraud has fallen by more than a quarter since 2009-10, thanks in large part to the introduction of chip-and-PIN technology.”
“Having accurate data on a national scale is essential to assessing our work. Today’s data, presented by the ONS with the support of the Home Office, has revealed something we have always known but were unable to quantify.”
Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem spokesman, said: “It is remarkable that at a time when cyber crime is on the rise and fraudsters are coming up with new ways to gain access to our personal information, our Prime Minister and his Home Affairs Deputy are seriously considering the ability to weaken encryption, which allows banks to keep our information safe.”
The UK has virtually no crime, this is according to statistics, but this somehow does not fit into the reports of TV news channels talking about the latest pogroms in some cities. Nevertheless, we will still believe the statistics, so 1.9% of people in Britain reported that they had become victims of violence or attack over the past year, for example in European countries this percentage is 4, the difference is significant, of course it may seem that on city streets there are so many policemen that the hooligans simply don’t even have time to twitch. Even safer countries are those with attack rates of 1.31%, 1.37, 1.5% and 1.81%.
Street crime
It is interesting that the UK is characterized by gender inequality, men here are attacked much more often than women, 3.2% and 0.8%, respectively, only in feminism has it achieved greater immunity. This also suggests that equal rights for all people in such countries are the most important social value, just short of discrimination, and this is already severely punished. The opposite situation is observed in Poland.
The number of murders per 100,000 people is a more accurate assessment of the crime rate in any country, so in the UK the murder rate is 1.2, which is slightly lower than the European average, women in this country also have this rate two times lower than men. As you know, the safest country in the world is
Concept. The English criminal legal system, as well as legislation, does not have a clear definition of the term crime. UK lawyers find it difficult and virtually impossible to develop an explanation that can comprehensively cover this complex concept. Some authors even consider the legal formulation of crimes optional. Nevertheless, the process of searching for features that could create the basis for a clear definition of the term crime continues, and in the criminal legal doctrines of England there are several interpretations of this term.
The famous English jurist Stephen, in his “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” gave the following explanation of the concept of crime: “A crime is any violation of law, considered from the point of view of the evil tendency of such a violation against society as a whole.”
Another interpretation of crime is that reflected in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of English Law, according to which “... a crime is an act or failure to perform a duty that causes harm to society and is prohibited by law under penalty imposed by the state.”
A third, more detailed formulation of the crime is the following: “A crime or criminal offense is an injury prohibited by law, whether it is also a tort, a breach of contract or a breach of trust, the main consequence of which is that the offender, if found, is subject to criminal responsibility, is prosecuted on behalf of the state and, if found guilty, punished.”
As we can see, the first explanation of the term crime is succinct and does not fully cover what a crime can mean. The third interpretation is too confusing and detailed. The most successful in terms of clarity and coverage is the second explanation, which at the same time has its shortcomings. All this indicates that England is still on the way to developing an interpretation of the phenomenon of crime. Perhaps the reason for this lack of development is that English law is largely uncodified and based on precedent, which makes the process of conceptualization difficult.
Classification. The classification of crimes in English law is carried out according to three main criteria:
- 1) by sources of criminal liability;
- 2) according to the significance of the object of encroachment;
- 3) according to the degree of danger of the crime.
This method of classification is common to most lawyers in England.
1. In accordance with the sources of criminal liability, all criminal acts are divided into crimes under common law and statutory ones. This classification is based on the legal traditions of England and the specifics of Anglo-Saxon law, in which more place is given to judicial precedents and customs rather than codified norms (in many branches of English law the level of codification is still very low and when considering a particular case, the judge is forced to turn to a huge archive of similar cases to make a fair decision).
Despite the fact that many provisions of the criminal law of England have already been codified and the sources of legal responsibility for many offenses are statutes (regulations), many serious crimes, such as murder, have not yet been reflected in written legislation and are still crimes according to the general (precedent) right. In modern criminal law practice in England, there is a tendency to increase the proportion of statutory crimes as more and more new types of criminal liability are reflected in codified statutes.
2. Depending on the significance of the object, crimes are classified in the criminal law doctrine of England, since classification of crimes on this basis is not carried out at the legislative level.
Various legal scholars in England cite the following types of crimes depending on the significance of their object: crimes against the person, crimes against property, crimes against public order, political crimes, sexual crimes, crimes against public morals, motor vehicle crimes, crimes against justice, computer crimes, etc. d. and so on.
3. In England, before the adoption of the Criminal Law Act of 1967, crimes were classified according to the degree of danger into especially dangerous (treason and felonies) and less dangerous (misdemeanors) crimes.
Felonies were identified as the most serious crimes, the obligatory consequence of which was confiscation of property. Felonies included serious and simple murder, robbery and theft of property, polygamy and rape.
Depending on the severity of the crime classified as a felony, the degree of punishment changes, although previously all these crimes were punishable by death.
Treason, as one of the types of serious crimes in English law, was divided into high treason (attempt on the king or a member of his family, counterfeiting and forgery of the royal seal, murder of the chancellor or judges) and petty treason (murder by a wife of her husband or master's servant). Currently, only high treason is considered treason.
Less serious crimes included misdemeanors, which included fraud, theft, perjury, deception, etc. For misdemeanors, the defendant was never subject to the death penalty and his property was not always confiscated.
The Criminal Law Act of 1967 abolished the division of crimes into felonies and misdemeanors. Nowadays, crimes in England are classified according to their severity into high treason and other crimes.
The above classification of crimes by degree of danger was based on a material and legal point of view. From a procedural point of view (according to the method of legal proceedings), crimes are divided by English law into the following:
- - Indictable offenses (these offenses are tried by a Crown Court consisting of a judge and jury, preceded by a hearing in the Magistrates' Court to determine the sufficiency of the evidence and the merits of the charge).
- - Summary offenses are offenses tried in a magistrate's court without a jury. The case is considered by this authority from beginning to end without preliminary investigation.
- - Mixed or hybrid crimes are crimes that can be considered in one of the above orders by choice. The elements of these crimes are established by statutes, and the latter stipulates that the crime can be tried either by indictment or summary procedure. The method of trial in mixed cases is determined by the Magistrates' Court.
The 1967 law also introduced a classification of crimes into arrestable and non-arrestable. In the case of the first type of crime, a constable or a private citizen can arrest the offender without the appropriate order of a judge. There are two criteria for a crime to be an arrest type:
- 1. The crime must be subject to punishment strictly defined by law (death penalty or life imprisonment);
- 2. The crime must promise a person who has not previously been convicted of at least five years of imprisonment.
All other crimes are classified as non-arrestable. Here, to effect an arrest, a special decision of the judge is required. In some cases, the law still allows the opposite, but subject to certain conditions.