Chris Trotter: Worse Crimes.

It really doesn't matter what the Police statisticians and the criminologists say about crime, all that matters is public perception. Crime statistics the world over may be declining. The young people of today may actually be more law-abiding than their parents and grandparents. But, when people see the consequences of a ram-raid; when they witness hooded figures helping themselves to other people’s property in broad daylight; well, then facts cease to matter. They’re alarmed. They’re angry. They want something done.
The problem, of course, is that those whose responsibility it is to do something, aren’t at all sure what can – or should – be done.