As I mentioned last week, the crime rate in Britain has been going up steadily for years. The police and the courts don't seem to be able to reverse the trend (and the courts in particular have been making it easier to be a criminal). Antoine Clarke reports some hope in the deepening gloom:
Three months ago, I was 'an extremist'. Today, I am merely 'controversial'. I have not changed my opinion, but what is called "the public mood" has changed, at least in London.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, interviewed in the Daily Telegraph, has shifted the official middle-ground:
Householders should be able to use whatever force is necessary to defend their homes against criminals, even if it involves killing the intruder, the country's most senior police officer said yesterday.
Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said those who defended their families and property should only face prosecution over injuries to intruders in "extreme circumstances", where they could be shown to have used gratuitous violence.
In the same way that a single swallow doesn't make a spring, a single sensible comment from officialdom does not necessarily indicate that the tide has turned. But it's nice to feel that there's a chance that common sense can make a comeback.
Update, December 7: Corrected my misspelling of Antoine's name. My sincere apologies!
Posted by Nicholas at December 6, 2004 04:42 PM
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