Letter to the Editor
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300202 |
| Published date | 01 April 1980 |
| Date | 01 April 1980 |
| Author | Preston Polytechnic |
| Subject Matter | Letter to the Editor |
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
PRESTON POLYTECHNIC
Faculty
of
Social Studies
and
Humanities.
Dear Editor,
Anation that does not keep its streets safe forfeits, in the end, its
civilization. Insome parts of the United Kingdom, the streets are no
longer safe. No doubt Professor Lowenstein is correct in advocating
mugging decoys, karate experts, "mugging purses" and alarms. I
disagree with him on two points: one major and one minor.
The minor point is that there isverylittleevidencethat prison or borstal
or special treatments work, if they did, the problem of crime would
have been solved years ago.
The major point is that laws requiring people to helpin impeding a
crime or coming to the aid of the victim already exist in some places,
e.g. New York. They fail to produce the effect the Professor wishes.
As any police officer knows, it is verydifficult to identify "those-who-
don't-have-a-go".
The Professor's scheme for a register of potential muggers
(presumably the personsconcerned have not yet been found guilty by
acourt of a crime) would be a gross infringement
ofthe
liberty of the
individual and put immense power into the hands of persons whose
expertise is dubious.
As with most of
our
social problems there seems little likelihood of
asolution. We do not know how to make people concerned for their
fellows, or more sensitive to others, or give them a sense of social
responsibility. The best wecan do is to contain the criminal elements
by means of an adequate police force, numerous enough to keep the
streets safe by their presence. Intelligent town planning might help.
There is much evidence from the U.S.A. that tower blocks, open and
little frequented areas, rows of offices uninhabited after early evening
are all conducive to crime while a mixture of dwellings and shops are
deterrent. There is nothing like an inquisitive shop owner or a
curious old lady peeping through her curtains from her flat above the
shop and a police officer within easy reach to keep the streets safe.
The shop owner and the old lady both have self-interest in law and
order
apart
from any other motivation.
Publicized positive incentives (money plus an award) might
persuade people to have-a-go rather
than
negatives in the form of
laws commanding intervention.
Police Journal
April
1980 108
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