Annual Reports
| Date | 01 July 1981 |
| Published date | 01 July 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8105400304 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
All is not gloom, however. Some elderly offenders being treated for
quite serious problems can still show remarkable bursts of speed -
particularly when leaving shops (one 80-year-old had a GT Mini to
facilitate her escape). One or two also show a remarkable ability to
conceal the
truth
- but that is probably true of us all.
ANNUAL
REPORTS
The 1980 crime figure for the Northumbria area. viewed against population. was the
third highest rate outside the Metropolitan Police district. in England and Wales. Yet
again. the level of violence against the person was much higher than the national
average. The overall increase of such offences of violence wasalmost 6 per cent while
there was more than a 24 per cent increase in serious woundings. Although the overall
increase is less than in 1979. it continues to be a disturbing aspect of life today. It is not
acompensation but still encouraging that the detection rate for this type of offence is
more than 80 per cent. This. however, does not appear
to
deter those people who are
prone to violent behaviour. Perhaps
our
whole view of punishment and deterrent
needs
to
be up-dated so that the most stringent methods of dealing with offenders can
be used without society itself resorting to the extremes of which those we seek to
control are guilty. Sometimes the penalties meted out to those who commit serious but
non-violent crimes seem to be more severe than those inflicted on the perpetrators of
acts which cause mental and physical harm - surely the most abhorrent offences
against society. Annual Report -Chief Constable
of
Northumhria -1980
So the force emerged at the end of this eventful year having chalked up some fine
successes, having suffered just a few failures, but with sufficient credit by all accounts
(and certainly not just its own account) properly to regard itself as a bit battered. but
on the whole in good fetle. And battered it sometimes has been, literally speaking,
because of the assaults - far too many of them - made on policemen and
policewomen in the course of their duties. This is a disturbing trend in police life;and
some of the assaults were vicious and extreme, causing serious injuries, as a result of
which officers were absent from duty for long periods.
It
says much for these officers
that
without exception they have returned to duty and got on with the
job
as soon as
they could following medical treatment. Nevertheless, although they "carne up for
more", there are indications
that
personal stress - which officers undergo due to the
general level of violence. they meet and the enhanced pace of other aspects of modern
policing - is taking a toll. A special studyis being made of this, the preliminary results
of which should be available early in 1981.
Annual Report -Chief Constable
of
Lancashire -1980.
238 July 1981
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