MetaFilter posts tagged with UK and crime

Peace is liberty in tranquillity

MuffinMan — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:40:09 -0800

The UK Peace Index [PDF], a new publication from The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), has produced a startling new headline: against public perceptions of crime, both crime and homicide have fallen significantly. The fall over the last decade has resulted in the UK homicide rate now being roughly equivalent to that of the Western European average, and it is now at its lowest level since 1978. The last ONS data from 2010/11 [PDF] suggest that even people who trust official statistics believe crime has gone up. 66% of them believed this was the case. Among those who distrust official statistics, 80% believe crime has gone up. However, among victims and non-victims of crimes alike, only a minority believe they live in an area where crime is above the national average. Separate research by Cardiff University suggests injuries from violent crime are down by 14% in 2012 in England and Wales. Furthermore, the Peace Index researchers are at a loss to explain why violence is falling - not just in the UK but elsewhere - and dismiss many of the existing theories. For those that are interested, the IEP has now also produced its second US Peace Index. The data there, too, show a sharp decline in violence. The US is more peaceful domestically now than at any other time over the last twenty years; since 1991 there has been a substantial and sustained reduction in direct violence across the US. The index showed that Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Minnesota were the most peaceful states - and that Florida, Nevada, Tennessee and Louisiana were the least peaceful - perhaps explaining the ouroboros nature of arguments about the (de)merits of gun control. Lest one get too excited, the same organisation also produces a Global Peace Index, which Iceland tops [PDF]. The UK ranks 29th. The US ranks 88th. Related: British Crime Survey for England and Wales; ONS Crime Statistics. Previously: Punch line inside (Global Peace Index, 2007).

Gu Kailai's trial ends

BibiRose — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:37:16 -0800

Gu Kailai's trial has concluded but no verdict has been delivered. Many things about the political background of the murder trial, and Gu Kailai's personal motives, remain unclear, although it is said that Gu has not disputed the charge that she killed Neil Heywood. According Edward Wong and Andrew Jacobs in the New York Times, Many legal experts say the trial was political theater and little more than a forum to present an official narrative of the crime. The session raised as many questions as it answered. Previously.

The News Corporation scandals

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:54:11 -0800

Murdoch's Scandal - Lowell Bergman (the journalist portrayed by Al Pacino in The Insider) has investigated News Corporation for PBS Frontline [transcript]. He depicts Rupert Murdoch's British operation as a criminal enterprise, routinely hacking the voicemail and computers of innocent people, and using bribery and coercion to infiltrate police and government over decades. Enemies are ruthlessly "monstered" by the tabloids. Bergman also spoke to NPR's Fresh Air [transcript]. But the hits keep coming: in recent days News Corp has been accused of hacking rival pay TV services and promoting pirated receiver cards in both the UK and Australia. With the looming possibility of prosecution under America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, how long will shareholders consider Rupert Murdoch irreplaceable? [Previous 1 2 3 4]

PDF-ed

unSane — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:25:38 -0800

A UK man who downloaded recipes on how to make explosive devices has been jailed under the controversial Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which makes it a crime to be "in possession of records of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit, said: "The materials we discovered on that pen drive were clear and viable instructions on how to make explosive devices [...] I also want to stress that this case is not about policing people's freedom to browse the Internet. The materials that were downloaded were not stumbled upon by chance - these had to be searched for and contained very dangerous information that could have led to an explosive device being built. That is why we had to take action."

"Bob Shuter, suburban vigilante. Driven by rage to wage a one-man war on the underworld of Kent, Bob Shuter is... The Reprisalizer."

Artw — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:50:22 -0800

"You're going nowhere, son. Just you, me ad the walls. So wipe that bloody grin off before it's shot off, and don't slouch. You toe rag. You bin. Pay attention when I break you. And break you I will, boy. You're in my manor, now." Buck up! It's Terry Finch's THE REPRISALIZER! Follow Bob Shuter, whose mission of reprisal against his brother's killers, their families, associates, progeny and property takes him across the desolate wasteland of 70s Britain, primarily Kent AKA FINCHLAND. Finch, writer of The Reprisalizer and DRAW!, the cowboy whose name means death, is soon to be the subject of a major motion picture from Matthew Holness, creator of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

The name Kevin is now illegal. Why not use Alan instead? It suits you.

The Whelk — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:49:27 -0800

"London Bridge is currently closed to the public and a section 60 in place due to the presence of a depressed swan." - The Metropolitan Police Twitter Feed: Giving you the lowdown on all the criminal shit that's going down in London town. (Note, not real)

UK London Met police proposed undemocratic refusal of bail to all arrested in London riots.

maiamaia — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:05:45 -0800

London Metropolitan Police formulated policy of refusing bail to all arrested in London riots which might have influenced high remand in custody rate.

The Amoral Maze

Artw — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:35:16 -0800

Jon Ronson - How to spot a psychopath

Just saying no

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:07:37 -0800

The number of young people taking drugs has fallen by 30% in 15 years How the British fell out of love with drugs

The Search for the Securitas Millions

reenum — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:53:10 -0800

In February 2006, a group of criminals pulled off the biggest cash heist in the history of the UK, making off with £53 million pounds. To date, only £23 million of the money has been recovered. Police are understandably upset about the dead ends in the case.

UK Crime Map

Schroder — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:22:31 -0800

Crime maps have formally reached England and Wales, says The Spectator. Launched today, the crime map shows two mild anti-social orders for our sleepy UK villige. What's your crime level?

Greater Manchester Police posting 24 hours of incidents to Twitter

chorltonmeateater — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:49:31 -0800

Greater Manchester Police are posting every single incident they deal with over a 24-hour period to Twitter. Due to the high volume of incidents, they're posting them over three different Twitter accounts: one two three. My favourite so far is call no. 384:

report of man holding baby over bridge - police immediately attended and it was man carrying dog that doesn't like bridges

You're a big man, but you're in bad shape

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:59:09 -0800

RIP Trinity Square, Gateshead - a Brutalist car park made famous for it's appearance in the classic British crime drama Get Carter is being demolished this week.

Can a person disappear in surveillance Britain?

zarq — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:15:14 -0800

It's been estimated that the average UK adult is now registered on more than 700 databases and is caught many times each day by nearly five million CCTV cameras. So how hard would it be for an average citizen to disappear completely? That’s the subject of a new documentary film: Erasing David, (Trailer: YouTube, Vimeo) which premieres this evening in the UK on More4. It's also now available worldwide online at the iTunes store and through several Video On Demand services, as well as through Good Screenings. Erasing David: Facebook / Twitter / Downloadable PDFs can be found at their Protect Yourself page / Education Materials Review: Erasing David and the fight for privacy rights. Good Screenings is a new site dedicated to facilitating screenings of "the best, award-winning social justice filmmaking... films that aren't just good - they do good too..." The CCTV camera statistics in the first line of this FPP were lifted from the TimesOnline article, and may have been sourced from the documentary's marketing materials. In the interest of accuracy, I rephrased their mention as an estimate, because the official statistics which have been released lead to varying conclusions as to how many cameras and databases there really are.

World Government Data

netbros — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:26 -0800

Governments around the globe are opening up their data vaults allowing us to check out the numbers for ourselves. This is the Guardian’s gateway to that information. Search for government data here from the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand — and look out for new countries and places as they are added. Read more about this on the Datablog. They have an API available. Even though all of these government data sites have enormous quantities of data, they are not in the same formats. What the Guardian has done is put them into a unified form, meaning developers have the opportunity to write applications that compare data between different countries. If you want the data in Atom or JSON just change the "/search" to "/search.atom" or "/search.json" in the url. Here are some sample visualizations that have already been created.

No Man's Land

WPW — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:46:38 -0800

The geography of fear. Children map the no-go areas that blight their lives.

Rebus Retires

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:46:24 -0800

Exit Music. The King of Tartan Noir, Ian Rankin has retired his detective John Rebus. Ageing him with each novel, Rebus has finally reached the retirement age at Edinburgh CID; Although that may not stop him... Though Rebus will probably now have more time to spend in the Oxford Bar, his creator had not slowed down, producing a newspaper serial, writing for and appearing on television including his 'Evil Thoughts'- here interviewing Anne Perry, writing a libretto and a comic book, giving away Kidnapped, having a public row with "bloodthirsty lesbians" and starting spurious rumours about that other famous best-selling Edinburgh writer.

It’s a young man’s game, innit

ninebelow — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:40:10 -0800

“I’m a singer. I’m a performer.” Accused of taking part in a £1.75m armed robbery Brian Hibberd had an unorthodox defence. Apparently it worked.

Mr Hibberd said that he had quit pop music when he became bald. “It’s a young man’s game, innit?” But he claimed that he still did voiceovers; leaning towards the witness box microphone, he growled: “Some of them are there to hurt you, some of them are there to help you.” It was, apparently, a line from the film Transformers, and an example of Mr Hibberd’s current — and wholly legitimate — work. “I do stuff like that,” he told the jury, without explaining how that would prove that he had nothing to do with an armed robbery.

The Trial of John Dicks, and other True Stories

anastasiav — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 15:45:39 -0800

Homosexuality in 18th Century England :: an amazing compilation of primary source material from newspaper reports and other sources.

Suicide.....by Chat?

dash_slot- — Sat, 29 May 2004 06:28:20 -0800

Dial-Up For Murder.
So, you're a typical geeky teenage boy with serious angst and a death wish. How do you commit the fatal deed? Obvious! Groom an older boy by writing 50,000 lines of fantasy, inventing 8 characters, including a female spy offering sex, meet up to buy a blade, and voila! - redefine murder plots for us all.
Wierdest.Web.Story.Evah?

How Dodgy Are You?

feelinglistless — Tue, 10 Jun 2003 14:04:55 -0800

How Dodgy Are You? I'm in the clear. No years in prison and no fine. Safe and boring. Let's see the Mefi criminal element emerge shall we? [Imagary may now be work safe and the quiz is based on UK law ...]

My Drugs Hell

grahamwell — Fri, 23 May 2003 09:31:42 -0800

Elliott could no longer bear the waste. He had six staff and a budget of £3.5m a year. He had a potential client group of 25,000 users ... but at the end of all his work and all that public money, the total number of detox beds he was able to provide was five. The Guardian reports from the front-line of the drugs war. (part two) You may have no interest in Drugs or the UK but read this superb piece for a profile of a bureaucracy in farcical, tragic, total collapse.

Badthoughts

kablam — Wed, 13 Nov 2002 16:41:58 -0800

Hate crime police raid 150 homes 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

NDb -(60% x Nc/Nt +40% x Dc/Dt) x 17,585

badstone — Thu, 17 Jan 2002 15:28:21 -0800

NDb -(60% x Nc/Nt +40% x Dc/Dt) x 17,585
"Mathematicians called in by the Metropolitan Police think they have worked out the best way to beat crime in the capital."
Are there any UK mathematician/cops out there that know what the variables actually are?

Britain's strict gun laws not really working.

Rastafari — Tue, 08 Jan 2002 05:39:51 -0800

Britain's strict gun laws not really working. While Britain has some of the toughest firearms laws in the world, the recent spate of gun murders in London has highlighted a disturbing growth in armed crime. Could the NRA be correct? Should the Bobbies now be required to carry guns, something they have never done before?