Express & Star comment: Justice not served by new crime figures
There was a time a few years back, when police vehicles were emblazoned with reassuring slogans such as 'crime has fallen'.
You may not have noticed statements like this in recent times, simply because the exact opposite is now happening.
There are those who would argue that even back then crime wasn't really falling, and that the statistics were heavily massaged for public consumption.
Whatever the truth of the matter, there is little doubt that the rise in crime in recent years is both startling – and indeed frightening – in equal amounts.
The fact is, that while officer numbers are being cut, police stations closed and resources withdrawn, criminals are having a field day.
Entire generations of young miscreants have now grown up knowing full well that when they commit a criminal act, the chances of them being caught are slim.
Furthermore, their chances of being convicted are slimmer still, and in many cases their chances of seeing the inside of a prison cell are almost non-existent.
Put simply, our criminal justice system is broken from top to bottom – and the criminals know it.
This malaise first began under the ineffective Cameron/Clegg administration, a time when, ironically, Theresa May served as home secretary.
Since her elevation to prime minister, the situation has gone from extremely bad to catastrophic, as the new crime figures show.
Nobody could look at these figures and be anything but alarmed at the shocking levels of crime in our society, particularly in towns and cities such as Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.
Our over-stretched police forces, however, are not entirely to blame.
Their numbers have been cut, their budgets slashed in real terms and across the board their resources have been diminished.
The rare bobby on the beat is now more hard-pressed than ever before.
Senior officers must take a long, hard look at their list of priorities and reconcile them with the concerns of ordinary men and women.
In far too many cases, our police forces do not show enough empathy with the victims of crime.
Sadly, there is often a clear disconnect between the official approach and the feelings and needs of victims.
But let's be clear on this.
It is the politicians at the top of the system who must take the greatest responsibility.
How often have we heard Mrs May deliver any grandstanding speeches about crime?
How many hard hitting policies has this Conservative prime minister laid down to put the fear of God into those who break the law?
Instead, countless millions of pounds have been spent on chasing up fruitless inquiries, and on box ticking exercises designed to demonstrate the politically correct credentials of our wider police service.
Senior officers and politicians badly need to get back to basics.
They must surely be able to see that what they are doing at the moment is not working, and to put it bluntly, has not worked for a very long time.
The regular pledges to reduce crime have long since started to sound like hollow promises. All around the country, people are losing faith in our police forces.
For our legal system to function effectively, people need to know that if they break the law, there is a good chance of them being caught and feeling the full force of the law.
Without this, the entire fabric on which society is built will break down.
