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Rise of the 'walk on by' society as decent people fear the police
Last updated at 09:47am on 19.06.08
Britain is becoming a 'walk on by' society where law-abiding citizens are unwilling to help victims of violent crime, a Government adviser has warned .
In a report ordered by Downing Street, Louise Casey said people are terrified they will either be attacked themselves or face arrest.
She said the change in attitudes - blamed on a loss of trust in the police - could allow crime to 'strangle whole neighbourhoods'.
Yob culture: 'Law-abiding citizens are unwilling to intervene', says a Governemnt adviser
Miss Casey added that 'nothing short of a revolution' is needed to improve the way the public is treated by the criminal justice system.
The conclusions of the former 'respect tsar' will chime with the public. Ministers have been blamed for not doing enough to support people who tackle criminals, including those who confront a burglar in the home.
Miss Casey's 120-page Cabinet Office report is based on the views of 13,000 people in England and Wales who were consulted over an eight-month period.
It says: 'There was a strong view from members of the public during the review that they would no longer intervene if they saw a crime taking place, for fear that they would either be attacked by the perpetrators or be arrested themselves by the police.
'This may be caused by wider factors, but it is symptomatic of reduced public confidence in the crime-fighting agencies, leading to a greater reluctance on the part of decent, lawabiding members of the public to play their part in tackling crime.
'The Government and all those employed in the criminal justice system are right to be very concerned about this.
Yob Britain: CCTV cameras capture a daytime street attack in Southampton city centre as witnesses walk on by
'Where people's fears, experiences and perceptions of crime drive down their confidence and willingness to engage, they become less neighbourly and lose their community spirit.
'In these circumstances, the police and others face even more of an uphill struggle to keep the public safe - and to stop crime getting a grip that can strangle whole neighbourhoods.'
The report warns that the criminal justice system rides 'roughshod' over the public, who 'believe fundamentally that the law is stacked more in favour of offenders' rights than victims'.
It adds: 'As a result, the public see the criminal justice system as a distant, sealed-off entity, unaccountable and unanswerable to them or to Government.'
The public also believe that sentences are 'too lenient', Miss Casey says in the report's foreword. Ordinary citizens, she remarks, are 'angry', 'sad' and 'wary'.
The report sets out 32 proposals. The most eye-catching is that offenders carrying out community punishment should be forced to wear high-visibility jackets to identify them as criminals.
This won backing from Justice Secretary Jack Straw, but was described by probation officers' leader Harry Fletcher as ' humiliating'.
Other ideas include the Government establishing youth clubs every Friday night in the 50 most deprived areas of the country to cut crime, and publishing online maps showing local crime rates.
The report also recommends that elderly and disabled victims of crime should receive automatic anonymity in court when they give evidence against thugs.
Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'This is a complete admission of the failure of the Government's policies to deal with crime and anti- social behaviour, with the public paying the price in absolute misery.
'The Government's "respect tsar" has confirmed the public's anxiety about the disorder on their streets.'
Other proposals included:
- Giving all community support officers the power to issue penalty notices for disorder and detain suspects for 30-minutes.
- Creating a commissioner to champion crime issues on behalf of the public.
- Setting up websites to publicise convictions and the sentences passed.
- Stripping the Home Office of responsibility for producing national crime statistics, with the task handed to an independent organisation to boost public confidence.
- Re-directing the £15 raised by the controversial victim's surcharge to support groups which are struggling to survive.
- Training community groups to fight crime.
FACE IN THE NEWS
LOUISE CAREY
Unlike most senior Whitehall advisers, Louise Casey is notoriously blunt.
Indeed, her plain speaking almost cost her job in 2005 when she appeared to speak in favour of binge-drinking.
She was expected to be fired, but Tony Blair insisted the then 'Yob Tsar' --director of the Home Office's antisocial behaviour unit - be given a second chance. Miss Casey, above, was then placed in charge of Mr Blair's Respect agenda.
After he stepped down, she was sent to the Cabinet Office - where she has been working on yesterday's report.
Last week she was awarded the Order of the Bath in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Reader views (11)
Yes, we have turned into a walk on by society also we have become a lets leave it to someone else society.
I work at a rail station and I am amazed when customers run in to the station holding their mobile phones in their hands passing 5-6 phone boxes and tell me about an incident that happens 50 - 100 metres away and tell me to call the police /ambulance.
- Lee, London
If you have a go you're just as likely to be sued for "hurt feelings etc by the thugs who then get compensation. If you don't want a walk on by society then don't encourage it with stupid laws.
- Steve, Hereford
To Steve London. Good job we never had cowards like you on D-Day otherwise we'd all be talking German. I am 85 but last year I helped rescue a lad being set on. I hate cowards like you who help other cowards by ignoring victims of crime.
- Fred, Portsmouth
Of course we are scared. Living in a country where knife-wielding thugs are given "community service" or let back out of jail after a few months, who wouldn't be? But it's worse than that. If we are brave enough to do something anyway, we can be sued by the criminal for assaulting them, or arrested for using a weapon in an attempt to prevent a crime!
- Nigel, London
Let's see if you think it's common-sense when you're on the receiving end Steve. There is and never has been a policeman on every street corner. We have to protect our own neighbourhoods and neighbours. We do need the full and unconditional support of the law though.
- Mark, London, UK
"Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today: 'We commissioned this frank report because we know how important it is to understand how the public feel about crime and justice."
What does HE care about how people feel? He hasn't demonstrated this to date, has he!
- Rogan, DFW Texas
When are we going to build more prisons so judges can sentence properly? Why not use the enormous budget used for "rehabilitation" and give law abiding society some more faith in the system. We need more punishment (and humiliation, thank you very much).
- Rachelle, London
Well, speak for yourselves but I have never walked away when I have seen someone being attacked either verbally or physically. I would rather take my chances with the mob/police than have it on my conscience that I turned the other cheek.
- Nicola Weir, London, UK
Sadly, this is not surprising as the boys in blue, in the last decade, have a very real and high tendency to turn on the very individuals who bothered to stop and intervene. Bearing in mind every thing that entails - having your details recorded, irrespective of whether you are charged or not, I would advise law abiding folks to walk on by....
- Vij, London
I was ferociously attacked unprovoked in Canary Wharf a number of years ago. I put my assailant in hospital with a single blow and waited with him for Police, security having fled. Despite on-site testimony by dozens of independent witnesses I was arrested by eight policemen and held until the early hours then released, covered head to toe in my assailants blood (I had broken his nose with a single punch). I was told I was facing five years for GBH because I am white by my brief who said the police lapped up 'white crime' as it adjusted their statistics. On the day I was due to be charged - despite the whole assault being on CCTV in the police's possession and clearly showing my innocence - I declined to attend the police station as my mother was that day getting the OBE. After confirmation of this fact by my brief the police immediately dropped all charges and sent three coppers round my flat to apologise personally - bad publicity? They also said it was not in my interests to press charges against my assailant for some reason.
- Squiz, Islington
Personally,I'd prefer to walk on than risk being fatally stabbed or shot.
Common sense isn't it?
- Steve, London
