-Caveat Lector- Euphorian spotted this on the Guardian Unlimited site and thought you should see it.
------- Note from Euphorian: Britland to ban knives next? Is a return to them olden dayze of ripping flesh off of bones in the offing? AER ------- To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk Rising gun use masks overall fall in offences Risk of being victim is the same as in 1981 Alan Travis, home affairs editor Thursday January 09 2003 The Guardian The shocking 35% increase in gun offences masks a more optimistic picture for England with the overall crime rate levelling off in the last 12 months after five years of continuous falls, according to both sets of official data published yesterday. Gun crime at 9,900 offences forms less than 0.3% of the overall crime rate. The police figures published yesterday show that total recorded crime rose to 5.7 million offences, a headline increase of 9%. But Home Office statisticians said yesterday most of this was accounted for by changes in police recording practices and it should be seen as a small annual rise of 2%. The second set of figures, however - the more authoritative British Crime Survey which measures people's experience of crime - shows a 7% drop in all crime to the year ending September 2002. "This leads us to conclude that after falls in overall crime in recent years, crime is now relatively stable," said Professor Paul Wiles, Home Office statistics director. This is supported by the evi dence that the risk of becoming a victim of crime in England and Wales remains at the historically low level of 26% or about one in four, and around the same as it was in 1981. The figures show a conflicting picture on burglary with the police figures showing a 5% rise and the BCS data showing a 7% drop. The Home Office said the recent increases in recorded burglary appeared to be levelling off between July and September last year. But the police figures do show an alarming 15% rise in drug offences from 115,000 in 2000/2001 to 130,000 in 2001/02. This is particularly curious over a period during which the government announced its intention to relax the cannabis laws. The overall murder rate for 2001/02 stood at 858 deaths in England and Wales. This is the highest level for 50 years but was only a slight increase on the previous year's 849 deaths. Nearly all the increase in the last decade has been in murders of men, which have risen by 73% since 1991, while the number of women murdered has remained relatively stable at 250 deaths a year. The most common murder weapon re mains a sharp instrument although there was a 32% rise in deaths from shootings last year from 73 gun deaths to 97. Although gun crime has soared, the estimated underlying trend for all violent crime is only slightly upward - no more than 2%. Almost all of a headline increase of 23% in violent crime on the police figures is discounted by changes in recording practices. The government's street crime ini tiative appears to have turned a 13% increase in street robberies for the 12 months to September 2002 into a 10% drop between July and September. The figures published yesterday also indicate continuing falls in car crime and thefts from vehicles. Further optimism is provided in the British Crime Survey, which shows that for each of the main types of crime - burglary, car crime and violent crime - there were significant falls in the amount of public anxiety. This survey's detailed findings on the rise in gun crime shows that firearm offences are concentrated in the main inner urban areas of London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds. The police recorded crime figures show that gun crime has risen every year for the past four years and is now higher than the previous peak at 9,974 offences for the 12 months to September 2002. There has been a particularly large increase (46%) in the use of handguns but evidence published yesterday from the British Crime Survey shows that in most cases (84%) the gun was used as a threat and not fired, or used as a blunt instrument. There was also a sharp rise (21%) in the use of air weapons in crime to 12,000 offences but most involved criminal damage to property rather than attacks on people. As well as the 97 fatalities, 558 people were seriously injured in gun crimes. Changes in police body armour and other protective gear meant that only 10 police officers were slightly injured in gun crimes last year. No officer has been shot dead since 1995. The rise in gun crime came mainly as a result of 34% increase in armed robberies with most committed on shops and by attacks on security vans "on the public highway" and street robberies. The days of the sawn-off shotgun are nearly over. They were used in only 6% of robberies compared with handguns, which were used in 70% of cases. Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
