The UK criminal justice system is the collective entity accountable for the administration of justice in the country. Including the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the UK’s prison system.
Table of content
- Introduction to UK criminal justice system.
- What is the crime rate in United Kingdom?
- Crime awareness in United Kingdom.
- Reporting a crime in UK.
INTRODUCTION
Criminal liability is imposed on conduct felt to be against the general interests of society. If millions of people have to live together, their lives will be more pleasant and peaceful. If some measures are taken to prevent people from killing or physically attacking others or walking into their houses and taking things away.
Most of us would agree that these types of behavior are anti-social, and we want them to be controlled. However, there is not always agreement on what kinds of conduct should be considered criminal. Swearing in front of children is considered anti-social by many. Along with eating smelly fast food on public transport, or wearing too much perfume or aftershave.
Yet none of these constitutes a crime, and very few people would wish them to be. On the other hand, there are types of behavior that may affect nobody but the people involved. Such as smoking cannabis and failing to wear a seat belt are examples that are nevertheless criminal acts.
The types of conduct which are considered criminal vary from society to society. In Uk criminal justice system, for example, homosexuality was once a crime. Until 1991, it was not a crime for a man to rape his wife. As general attitudes change over time, so do attitudes to the kinds of behavior we label as criminal.
At any stage in a society, there will be some kinds of behavior about which there is dispute – at the moment. For example, smoking cannabis is a crime and some people argue that it should not be, while abortion (with certain rules) is not a crime, and some believe it should be. it is important therefore to realize that there is no absolute definition of criminal behavior – “criminal” is no more than a label attached to different types of behavior at different times in different societies.
WHAT IS THE CRIME RATE IN UNITED KINGDOM?
Official statistics on crime are published annually in the UK, and provide two main kinds of imformation. The number of crimes commited, as a whole and by type of crime, and certain characteristics. Such as age and sex, of convicted offenders. The figures tend to be reported in the media under headlines such as “violent came up 10%” or “bulglaries reduced by 25%”.
However, since the 1960s, increasing doubt has been cast on this interpretation of officials statistics. we now know that when official figures say that, for example, bulglaries are down by 25%. it doesnt necessarily mean that there have been 25% fewer burglaries than the year before. This is because these statistics do not measure the crime that has taken place, but the crimes that have been officially recorded, and they may be two very diffierent things.
The reason for this is that have been recorded, a seris of processes must occur: a person (the victim, the police, or someone else) must be aware that it has happend; if the police have not discovered it, someone must report it; and the police must accept that the law has been broken. Each stage has implications as to whether the incident appears in the official statistics or not.
CRIME AWARENESS IN UNITED KINGDOM.
While in the case of crimes such as burglary or theft it will be clear to the victim that crime has been committed, many offences do not have an obvious victim. For example, tax evasion victimises the whole community, because if dishonest people avoid paying their fair share, the rest of us have to pay more.
But we are not likely to be aware of it happening. Unless the police, or other enforcement agencies, discover such crimes, nobody but the criminals will know that they have taken place.
Whether the police discover a crime depends heavily on where police officers are actually placed. Areas where police believe that crime is likely to occur are allocated higher policing levels. So crime is more likely to be discovered there, and presumably less likely to be discovered in areas not seen as likely to produce crime. Styles of policing may also play a part in this, as the sociologists Lea and Young point out in their book “What Is to Be Done About Law and Order?”.
In suburban and country areas, policing is more likely to be what Lea and Young describe as ‘consensual’, with officers seeing themselves as supporting the community in upholding the law. In cities, they see themselves as controlling the community, and preventing it from breaking the law. Lea and Young suggest that people are more likely to be stopped and searched in the second type of area. And thus more likely to be discovered if they do commit crime.
REPORTING A CRIME IN UK.
In Uk criminal justice system numerous studies have shown that the majority of crimes which take place are not reported to the police. Victimisation surveys ask respondents whether they have been the victim of crime over the previous year.
whether they have reported it, and whether it was recorded by the police. The best known is the Crime Survey for England and Wales which takes place every couple of years.
It regularly reveals a huge number of crimes which have not been reported to the police. The 2009/10 survey uncovered 9.6 million crimes, more than double the official figure of 4.3 million. In addition, rates of reporting varied widely between different types of offence. Clearly this throws doubt on the official picture of which types of crime are committed most frequently; not only are the numbers wrong, but also the proportions.
What influences the decision to report? The main reasons for not reporting are that the victim saw the offence as trivial, and/or believed that the police would not be able to do anything about it. People also tend to report crimes where there is an obvious advantage to them in doing so. 98 per cent of car thefts are reported, presumably because that is necessary in order to make an insurance claim.
Other factors are that some crimes are regarded as personal matters, to be sorted out between the individuals. victims may want to protect the offender. Particularly in crimes such as child abuse or domestic violence. And victims may be too embarrassed to report to police, especially where the offence is of a sexual nature.
Kinsey, Lea and Young in Losing the Fight Against Crime provide additional reasons why crime may go unreported. And therefore unrecorded in official statistics.
They argue that inner-city communities have little faith in the police. And this expresses itself in two ways. Residents believe the police are biased against them. And they also fear reprisals from criminals, against which the police will not be able to protect them.
Another victimisation study, the Merseyside Crime Survey (Kinsey (1984)), has shown that the higher the crime in an area, the lower the willingness to report.
However, even victimisation studies probably underestimate the true amount of crime com- mitted. They can only record certain types of crime – those with an obvious victim. They therefore do not include drugs offences, prostitution, tax, corporate or white-collar crime. Sexual offences are also likely to be underreported.
Although victims may be more likely to report these in the confidentiality of such surveys, than go to the police. Many will still be too embarrassed to admit to them. Especially as there may seem to be no practical point in doing so.
Victimisation surveys also rely on victims’ memories, and their ability to define an act as a crime. Minor criminal acts may be forgotten, not regarded as serious enough to record, or not seen as crime.
