Originally posted by twhitehead
Go here:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/United-Kingdom/Crime

And look down at the charts next to the 'violent crime' items. All falling.

I saw that. From the way the media portrays it though, it appears that crime is up, but that appears to be false.

From the articles I posted, which I read, it appears that the world is getting safer. At least for now. But who knows, "they" may want a 3rd world war. All that's needed is a global economic collapse.

Originally posted by josephw
I saw that. From the way the media portrays it though, it appears that crime is up, but that appears to be false.

Never base your understanding of the amount of crime on the media. Look for actual police stats. You will probably find that crime is in some cases far more prevalent than you realized, and in other cases less so. If you notice trends of crime in the media, it is because reporters are more likely to write about something that has been written about by others recently. So if there is a specific type of crime such as an unusual car theft that gets reported, the reporters then go around looking for more car thefts to report on, and the readers/viewers get the impression there is a spike in car thefts - not realizing that thousands of cars get stolen every day.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Never base your understanding of the amount of crime on the media. Look for actual police stats. You will probably find that crime is in some cases far more prevalent than you realized, and in other cases less so. If you notice trends of crime in the media, it is because reporters are more likely to write about something that has been written about by oth ...[text shortened]... sion there is a spike in car thefts - not realizing that thousands of cars get stolen every day.

So, in other words statistical reports are unreliable?

Then how do we know whether crime is actually on the rise or not?

Originally posted by josephw
So, in other words statistical reports are unreliable?

No, that's not what I said. I was saying that doing statistics based on how many media reports you read, is not only unreliable, but totally meaningless in most cases.

The best source of data is police reports, but you should still keep in mind that they can be affected by population changes as well as reporting rates. The most reliable stats are those of murders as those tend to be reported more consistently than other crimes.
Never look at 'total crimes' as that often includes drug related offences which varies according to how much the police are clamping down on drugs, or what laws are in place etc, and in some places drug related offences are a significant proportion of all convictions.

Originally posted by Hugh Glass
The United Kingdom today is in deep decline. Social and economic trends and the UK crime statistics reveal a nation beset by ... infertility, ... and perversion.

A nation beset by infertility? 🙄

Originally posted by Hugh Glass
The United Kingdom today is in deep decline. Social and economic trends and the UK crime statistics reveal a nation beset by rising crime, family breakdown, infertility, drug-taking, debt, indecency, profligacy and perversion.

Why has this happened? What responsibility is to be borne by Parliament, church and Monarch?

Personally, I blame Cromwell. If that abolitionist, dissenting usurper hadn't bereaved the King (Glory Be) of his undoubted, absolute powers, it is absolutely certain that we would now not have such rampant teen pregnancy, rising numbers of lardarse fatsos riding the buses, and Ken Livingstone, the cryptomarxist b***tard.

Or maybe not, maybe you're just hallucinating.

Originally posted by josephw
Do you think the decline in crime can be attributed to incarceration, or are people getting nicer?

It's most likely to be due to the fact that we stopped putting lead in car fuel.

The late century western crime boom and then drop-off has very strong correlation
with atmospheric lead concentrations.
And lead is a known poison known to affect cognition and impulse control.

Very strong correlation + known mechanism + no other strongly competing hypothesis = likely solution.


So for all the freaking out people did about atheists, Satanists, drug lords, and people who play D&D,
the actual culprits were the oil companies putting lead in gasoline.

Originally posted by googlefudge
It's most likely to be due to the fact that we stopped putting lead in car fuel.

That may explain some of it, but it is hardly the only cause. There are many factors involved in causes of crime. Big ones are poverty, incarceration of children or separation of children from parents for other reasons, lack of education, lack of employment opportunities, availability of alternative occupations for youth (hobies/ sports etc).

Originally posted by josephw
So, in other words statistical reports are unreliable?

Then how do we know whether crime is actually on the rise or not?

I make a tally mark on my bed head every time I am mugged.