« Counting the Cost of Thugs | Irish Rubbish Still Being Imported » |
Rising Crime is Good News
This seems to be the essence of at least one of the points made by Hugh Orde today as he met with the new Policing Board for the first time. When questioned over the rising crime rate in Northern Ireland Orde defended the PSNI's record. Granted, I've no reason to doubt claims that 1,300 new offences (previously not counted in crime statistics) were now being included and that Trouble following that Whiterock parade in west Belfast accounted for 650 offences.
Orde went on to say (if I remember correctly) that generally the increase in reported crime was a sign that people are more likely to trust the police (particularly highighting a rise in domestic violence reports) and turn to them when they are victims of crime. Fair enough, I'll give Mr Orde the benefit of the doubt on that one too. The problem arises, however, when he then goes on to claim that an 1.8% decrease in burglaries and 22% in car-crime was a great success.
Follow up:
Either the recorded level of crime is a useful indicator of police success or it isn't. It can't be a good indicator when crime is falling but not so reliable when it's rising, that just smacks of trying to have your cake and eat it - and we all know only our local politicians get to do that.
Speaking of which - it seems Ian Paisley Jr stuck the boot into the police. I watched the report on the TV news but despite possible valid concerns, struggled to get past the impression that Junior's aggressive manner was a sign that he just seeking attention for its own sake.