Here’s a good pointer as to when a society starts falling apart: when the police don’t bother to arrest petty criminals.
[British] Police are encouraging shop workers to detain thieves themselves with a ‘citizen’s arrest’, sparking an angry backlash from critics who accuse them of asking civilians to do their job for them.
Several forces have outlined how employees can take the law into their own hands, saying shoplifters can be detained if they are ‘reasonably suspected’ of committing a crime.
There is a suspicion that a spike in offences is being fuelled by hardcore shoplifters who have little fear of being caught.
Shocking figures have revealed thefts from shops have risen by almost a third over the past decade. Businesses across England and Wales recorded more than 382,100 last year – more than 1,000 every day. Yet the majority of police forces refuse to attend incidents if the goods stolen are worth less than £200.
Victims are instead told to report the crime online or via the non-emergency number 101 for ‘intelligence’ only, meaning it is unlikely to be investigated.
Of course, even if you do catch one of these criminals and make a citizen’s arrest — why would the Brits put the expression in quotes? — there’s no guarantee that the rozzers will show up anyway:
Have-a-go heroes who chased and caught a suspected thief were forced to let him go because police they were ‘too busy’ to arrest him.
The shopkeepers were bemused to be told by a police control room operator there was no-one to send despite the village’s police station being less than a mile away.
The business owners detained the man for up to 40 minutes in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, before releasing him.
Should have zip-tied the little prick to a parking meter and left him there to rot till the cops showed up.
And of course, gawd forbid that anyone should actually lay a hand on a criminal (e.g. by beating him with a cane) because oh no: only the police can beat people up in custody. Thus my own remedy (two days in the stocks followed by a severe whipping) would probably cause these pussies to clutch their pearls and faint. And ditto any attempt to take matters into your own hands in any other way:
A shop manager has put up posters of suspected shoplifters in his window after becoming fed up with a lack of action to the petty crime by the police.
John Keppie blew up CCTV images and placed home-made posters bearing the word ‘thief’ in his Bournemouth shop window after he says three girls spat in his face and stole drinks.
The Sweet Thoughts boss in Dorset said he took action after police failed to investigate, despite being offered the footage. But he claims officers have now warned him he could be fined for the posters.
Mr Keppie said that since the three posters appeared he has received a telephone call from the police telling him he isn’t allowed to have them up. He could be in breach of the Data Protection Act (2018) and liable to a fine.
And by the way: if you have a blood pressure problem, you will not want to read the rest of this linked article.
So yeah: if you take away fear of punishment, of course the crime rate is going to rise. Only in a failing state would this not be self-evident.
If you’re trying to reduce crime, what’s needed is not less, but even more prosecution — see then-NYC-AG Rudolph Giuliani’s “broken windows” policy, and its results.
It’s sad to see a once-great nation degenerate into one big chaotic crime scene.
