Crime and Punishment (again)

I blogged a while back that "It appears that 51.7% of crimes in London are "screened out" by the police. That is of course an average and some crimes are being all but ignored by the police - 43.4% of burglaries are "screened out", 71.4% of criminal damage offences are "screened out" and 77% of theft/handling stolen goods are "screened out". I wonder what percentage of the cases that are not "screened out" result in a prosecution. I further wonder what percentage of the cases that are actually prosecuted eventually result in a conviction. Finally I wonder what percentage of convictions result in a prison sentence of long enough to be a punishment or a deterrent. Now what percentage of crimes do you think result in a prison sentence? Now do you wonder why crime is so high? The chances of a thief getting caught are slim, the chances of their case being proceeded with are less than 25%, the chance of getting convicted slim and the chance of actually being meaningfully punished even slimmer."

Today I read from Simon Heffer that "Jack Straw, is planning to compensate for the Government's pitiful record on law and order by making it more pitiful still. Those criminals who would normally receive less than a year in jail will instead get community punishments of "supervision and activity". At the moment, 60,000 criminals a year receive such short sentences. With 80,000 in prison in total, this means virtually emptying the jails, and pouring out on to the streets scum from whom the public should be protected. Community punishments are often branded as soft, and with good reason. We heard this week that oversleeping is accepted as an excuse for not turning up for them. Mr Straw claimed the work that criminals would be asked to do would be "physically demanding". It apparently includes making nesting boxes for birds, something so physically demanding and unpleasant that children do it in their woodwork lessons. Is it any wonder that this country is enduring an epidemic of crime? Can there possibly be any outcome to this demented proposal than burglary, mugging, violent assault and other crimes that are routinely punished with sentences of less than a year becoming career options, or hobbies, for the brutal young men that some of our state schools specialise in turning out? Let us be clear why Mr Straw is embarking upon this disgraceful policy. The Government should have been aware ever since it came to power that its policies were leading to a serious rise in crimes that need to be punished by a custodial sentence. It isn't just the zoo-like schools in which many teachers are the de facto hostages of their pupils. It is also the deliberate decision not to encourage stable family life, the excessive welfarism that strips people of incentive, round-the-clock drinking, permissive attitudes to drugs and, above all, a clear indication from on high that bad behaviour will be tolerated by the courts, and treated excessively leniently."

This government just don't care about the law abiding public, they are beneath contempt.