The Number of Violent Crime and Burglaries in the UK - Term Paper Example

Introduction Due to economic recession, the number of violent crime and burglaries throughout the United Kingdom is expected to increase because of the possible increase in unemployment rate. Jacqui Smith who is the Home Secretary recently announced that “violent crime is expected to increase at a rate of 19% and burglaries at 7% in 2009” (Kennedy, 2008). Based on the latest criminal report in England and Wales (2007/2008), the overall British Crime Survey (BCS) reported crime has significantly decreased since 1996. Even though the number of domestic burglary and personal theft remained stable, the total reported criminal cases related to domestic, stranger and acquaintance violence, vehicle-related theft, household theft, vandalism, and risk of being a victim of crime as of 2007/2008 is 10,143 which is down by approximately 10% as compared to the reported crime rate back in 2006/2007 (Kershaw, Nicholas, & Walker, 2008; National Statistics, 2008). As a common presumption, many people believe that people who belong to either the black population and/or the other minority groups have the courage to actively participate in notorious gangs who are prone to committing different types of criminal activities ranging from simple vandalism of public property and thieves up to a certain degree wherein they commit violent crimes related to murder cases. For this study, the definition and general information related to racial discrimination and crime will first be provided to give the readers a better understanding of the subject matter. Eventually, the relationship between race and crime throughout the United Kingdom will be identified, analyzed and thoroughly discussed. In the process of going through the main discussion, some gathered past and recent facts and figures which are significantly relevant in suggesting a strong relationship between race and crime will be provided in details. Based on the gathered information, the effectiveness of the existing crime control plan that is being implemented in the country will be carefully analyzed followed by discussing some solutions on how to effectively prevent race-related crimes will be tackled. Any signs of weaknesses in the crime control plan related to race will also be identified. Definition and General Information Related to Selected Terms The English Law defined racial discrimination as “treating an individual less favourably than any other on the grounds of perceived ethnic or racial difference” (Abbas, 2004). With regards to the societal problems related to racial inequalities, UK law states that it is “unlawful for a personal to discriminate on racial grounds such as race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins against another person” (Equality and Human Rights Comission, 2008b). On the other hand, criminal activities is referring to any forms of act which are illegal and could either directly and indirectly cause physical, mental, or emotional harm aside from the possibility of incurring financial and property loses towards another person. Among the type of criminal cases that occurs in the United Kingdom includes: violence, sexual offences, robbery, burglary, theft and handling, fraud and forgery, drug offences, and motoring offences among others. (Jones & Singer, 2008: p.94) Relationship between Race and Crime throughout the United Kingdom The British Crime Survey (BCS) shows that the number of racially motivated criminal incidence throughout the United Kingdom has significantly increased from 139,000 cases in 2005/2006 up to 184,000 in 2006/2007 (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. viii). Since not the entire racially-related criminal incidence has been accurately reported to the local police station, the police recorded race-related crime is as low as 61,262 cases between the years 2006 to 2007. Even though the police reported figure is significantly much lower than the BCS report, it is a fact that police reported figure on race-related crime between the years 2006 to 2007 is roughly 3.7% higher as compared to years 2005 to 2006. The issue of racism or the inequality of the human races is not new. This form of mentality has existed many years ago in the sense that the ‘negroes’ are known to be capable of willingly kill other people for the sake of being able to kill whereas the ‘yellow’ race are known for being inclined to apathy and has enormous love for utility and respect for law and order among others. (Bowling & Phillips, 2002: p. 2) Because of a strong cultural discrimination against the black and minority communities, it becomes a common misperception that the black individuals are the ones who commit higher criminal activities as compared with other races. In fact, the white ethnicity is often exempted when it comes to being examined when discussing issues related to racism, crime, and justice (Webster, 2008). It remains a fact that the white ethnicity is a potential source of racism. (Webster, 2008) Based on the Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2006/2007 report, the number of white races that are convicted in Crown Court is approximately 8% and 16% higher than the blacks and Asian defendants respectively. (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. ix) Even though the blacks and other ethnic minority groups are less likely to face court cases, Brennan (2007) stated that the minority groups do not have the self-confidence in the jury system because of prejudice racism. In general, racial discrimination in law enforcement can be noted when it comes to the need to subject each individual under a stop and search procedure and other law enforcement or government controlled functions (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008c). Because of prejudice racism mentality, the Criminal Justice System (CJS) statistical report revealed that the members of the black communities are “seven times at risk of being the subject of stopped and searched as compared to the other races; three times more likely to be arrested; and five times more likely to be placed behind bars” despite the fact that it is the number of white races being convicted at the Crown Court is relatively much higher than other races (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. viii, ix). Likewise, 85% of the 295,000 offence cases which involves the young individuals are the white (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. x). Only 12.3% of the total number of youth offences involves the black and other minorities. Even though statistics show that a large number of the white population are signficantly involved in different criminal activities as compare with the black population and the minority groups, the type and seriousness of the crime commited by each individual matters most. For instance: A recently reported crime that is highly associate the black individuals include a gang of African race that is known to be serial robbers raped and pour caustic soda over the face of a 16 year-old girl (The British National Party, 2008). Since 11% of the total homicides all over the United Kingdom are committed by the black individuals as compared with the white and other minority races, as much as 27% of the black people end up being the victim of shot guns wounds (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. ix). In order to accurately determine the relationship between race and crime, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which aims to monitor offences related to racially aggravated offences such as assult/woundling, criminal damage, and harassment was publicly introduced back on September 1998 (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. 3). Since then, the method used in measuring the relationship between race and crime was strengthened under the section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. 3). Using four categories known as: White, Blacks, Asian, and Others, the data collection includes the number of stop and searches, arrests, cautions, and homicides (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. 3). Effectiveness of the Existing Crime Control Plan including Some Solutions on How to Effectively Prevent Race-related Crimes With regards to the issue on equality and human rights, the UK law recognizes the Race Relations Act of 1965 which was first implemented to address the issue on racial discrimination (Abbas, 2004). With the purpose of strengthening the Race Relations Act of 1965, the Race Relations Act of 1976 was implemented which was eventually changed with the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000 (Equality and Human Rights Commssion, 2008a; Jones & Singer, 2008: p. 3; Abbas, 2004). Based on the amendment Act 2000, it is not legal for any person including the public authority such as the local police forces and the government officials to discriminate other people based on race, cultural and ethnic backgrounds (Equality and Human Rights Commssion, 2008a; Abbas, 2004). Since the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 states the importance and the duty of each individual to promote race equality and good race relations among people of different racial backgrounds (Abbas, 2004), the Act requires all government agencies including the law enforcers to establish a Race Equality Schemes that are effective in terms of monitoring the progress of promoting race quality when it comes to controlling criminal activities throughhout the United Kingdom (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. 3). In general, the implementation of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000 is not enough to make the existing crime control plan effective. This is primarily because most of the law and policy makers behind development of crime control plan do not belong to either the black population and/or other minority groups. For this reason, there is a strong possibility for any forms of policy made with regards to crime control to be bias over the minority groups. Considering the fact that the blacks and other minority groups do not have the power to be heard when it comes to policy making matters, the Runnymede Trust was established back in 1968 to work in partnership with the ethnic minority groups against crime-related policy makers (The Runnymede Trust, 2008). As part of empowering the minority groups, the Runnymede Trust helps the minority groups to improve their educational achievements aside from teaching them about the criminal justice system among other major concerns related to employment. For instance: When it comes to issues related to Youth Crime Action Plan, it remains unavoidable for the young black individuals in the criminal justice system to be at risk of being over-represented since there was no discussion made in the original action plan on youth crime with regards to some strategic ways on how they can effectively reduce the “severe over-representation of young black male individuals within the criminal justice system which existed for many years” (Runnymede Trust, 2008b). With its purpose of strengthening the crime reduction strategy, Runnymede Trust intended to carefully review the action plan in order to promote the equal justice between the youth offenders and social justice. Conclusion The social problems related to racism existed for a very long period of time. In general, there is a significant relationship between race and crime in the sense that the black community and other minority groups are often being discriminated when it comes to law enforcements’ activities in terms of maintaining peace and order within the society. Racial discrimination related to crime can be easily noted with the law enforcements’ stop and search activities. Even though statistics show that the white ethnics are among the racial groups that significantly commit crime and face conviction at the Crown Court, the black communities are “seven times at risk of being the subject of stopped and searched as compared to the other races; three times more likely to be arrested; and five times more likely to be placed behind bars” (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. viii, ix). Likewise, even though only 12.3% of the total number of youth offences involves the black and other minorities (Jones & Singer, 2008: p. x), the existing crime control plan on Youth Crimes seem to over represent the young black individuals in the criminal justice system. It is good to implement the Race Relations (Amendment) Act of 2000 as a way of promoting equal justice to all. However, the implementation of this Act is not sufficient in giving the black and other minority groups an equal treatment. The active intervention of other related organizations such as in the case of the Runnymede Trust is necessary to ensure that each person will receive equal treatment under the UK law. *** End *** References: Abbas, Tahir. "Internet Journal of Criminology (IJC)." 2004. 'Race', Ethnicity and the Court: A Review of Existing and Ongoing Research. 31 October 2008 . Bowling, Ben and Coretta Phillips. Racism, Crime and Justice. Longman, 2002. Brennan, Fernne. "Internet Journal of Criminology." 2007. Ethnic Minority Representation on Juries - A Missed Opportnity. 31 October 2008 . "Equality and Human Rights Comission." 2008b. Race. 31 October 2008 . "Equality and Human Rights Commission." 2008c. In what settings does racial discrimination occur?: Stop and Search including any Public Function. 31 October 2008 . "Equality and Human Rights Commssion." 2008a. What is the Race Equality Duty? 31 October 2008 . Jones, Alex and Lawrence Singer. "Ministry of Justice." July 2008. Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System – 2006/7: A Ministry of Justice Publication under Section 95. 31 October 2008 . Kennedy, Siobhan. "Times Online." 1 September 2008. Recession will bring big rise in crime and race hatred, says Home Office. 31 October 2008 . Kershaw, Chris, Sian Nicholas and Alison Walker. "Home Office." 2008. Crime in England and Wales 2007/08: Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime. 31 October 2008 . "National Statistics." 2008. Crime in England and Wales 2007/08: A summary of the main findings. 31 October 2008 . "Runnymede Trust." 10 October 2008b. RUNNYMEDE TRUST WRITTEN CONSULTATION RESPONSE TO: Youth Crime Action Plan (Home Office). 31 October 2008 . "The British National Party." 2008. New Wave of Ethnic Crime Shakes Britain from Top to Bottom. 31 October 2008 . "The Runnymede Trust." 2008. 31 October 2008 . Webster, Colin. "Marginalized white ethnicity, race and crime." Theoretical Criminology (2008): Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 293 - 312. Read More