During the month of December 2009 the Church of England was in an uproar as one of its Reverends was giving a sermon at Sunday Service teaching us that during times of economic depression it was ok to steal products from shops – so long as they were taken from large national stores rather than small family owned shops and businesses.

The Reverend Tim Jones, a parish priest in the North of England says he was merely pointing out that when “every sociable acceptable avenue has been shut down, then the only avenue left is the unacceptable one”. Surely as a member of the faith HE must know that one of the Commandments is “thou shalt not steal” in-fact it is No 8 in a very short list of ten, so why is this man of the cloth telling less fortunate people to steal?
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How good are your local police? Want to find out what crimes are taking place in your home town? Well an internet system has now come online which will allow anyone to see just how good their local policing authorities are. Developed by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) the crime map will show you what the crime is like in 43 policing areas in England and Wales. Want to go out shopping in a different part of town no problem just type in the post code and instantly you have at your fingertips all of the crime statistics for that particular area, again with more and more people taking up ‘power walking’ or jogging, again this system will show you how safe the particular area has been.
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Britain is the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) capital of the world, with more than 4.2 million of the cameras just waiting to snap a video of you doing something wrong. Do they actually work and are they beneficial to the rest of the law abiding citizens? Some will argue that it is a waste of tax payer’s money while others may think that it cuts crime and anti social behaviour. Under a new scheme being introduced in Stratford-upon-Avon tagged ‘Internet Eyes’ members of the public will be paid up to £1000 to watch as many as 4 CCTV cameras and report anything out of the ordinary.
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In a recent report from the Home Office it was mentioned that burglary had fallen over the last decade, however in another report released by a leading Insurance company in January found that break-ins were up by 4% over the last quarter of last year and predicted that it would get worse as the recession bites.

Who do we believe?

No matter, all we can do is try our best to protect our homes and possessions. We can install the latest home security, cctv cameras and window guards then we can head off on our annual holidays thinking our property is all safe. As we pack our cases getting ready for the holiday our kids are on Facebook or Twitter – all full of excitement – telling everyone that we are going on holiday and that our property will be empty for the next 2 weeks.
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The new head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has been announced, Sir Ian Andrews will head Britain’s fight against serious crime. This multi-million pound organisation will work with the Police in its endeavour to cut crime. There are a few people who are shocked by the decision to make Sir Ian the head of this organisation, due to the fact that he has no Police training and spent most of his life as a civil servant.
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Violent attacks from UK females is on the increase. Figures have jumped to 13% for 2007/08 compared to 11% of the previous year which works out at 281,320 assaults, robberies and muggings carried out by violent women and girls. Half of all violent attacks involve alcohol fuelling fears that binge-drinking among young women is out-of-control.
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This week in Scotland saw the third anniversary of the 3,500 cyclist Etape Caledonia race which runs through Perthshire in aid of the MacMillan Cancer Support. This 81 mile race is now one of the biggest in Britain, but despite this, it was subjected to an audacious act of sabotage. The race which raises money for a good cause, is unpopular with a minority of the locals as the main road is closed for a few hours.
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Everyone can take steps to protect their property, from neighbourhood watch schemes, CCTV cameras, hi-tech wireless alarms these all work and have helped in the fight against crime. New crime figures released state that Burglary has been on the decrease, in-fact it has more than halved in the last 10 years (source) although these figures are for England and Wales only and also only include reported incidents. In a recent summit Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced that she is giving £20million to help keep this figure down and keep it down. Most of the money will be spent on giving free advice to persons that are concerned about becoming victims, helping the police in areas that are most at risk, and advice packages which will include discount cards to national DIY chains. £6 million of the money will be spent on local ‘handy-people’ to visit the elderly and those in low incomes and install home security devices.

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Concerned Lancashire Police are giving away hundreds of rape alarms to female students at a Lancashire University. Edge Hill University has been targetted for the iniative to help cut-down on alchohol related crime including rape. The female students will be given a personal rape alarm and guidance leaflets about proper drinking limits and how to cut down on excessive drinking.

Government figures have revealed that a third of all sexual assaults will take place when the victim is under the influence of alcohol. It has also been noted that sexual assaults under alchohol far outnumber ‘date-rape-drugs’. Alcohol is the preffered drug of choice for rapists claim The University of Surrey.

By issuing female students with personal protection i.e. the rape alarms and also engaging with them in learning about alchohol abuse it is hoped that the students will become more aware of the real dangers that alchohol abuse leads too. Rapists don’t need to spike a girls drink when they are already the worse-for-wear with alchohol.