Why Crime Matters
Peter Watt experiences crime first hand and understand why it holds such sway over people's votes.
22 Jan 2012, 12:00
Crime is one of those issues that helps determines who wins elections. Of course the economy is the most important; it’s why all of the parties keep such an eye on their economy ratings in polls. But then there are the secondary issues that convince or repel waverers. And of these, crime is top. It’s an emotional thing that is linked to safety, family and security. At an intellectual level I have always got this. I know that crime and the fear of crime is an issue for many people. I know that the reality of crime often lags way behind people’s perception and that dealing with it is complex.
But if I’m honest, I have also been a bit sniffy about it as an issue, in fact probably a bit arrogant. It just wasn’t something that worried me personally. Oh I knew that we needed a careful balance between understanding and toughness. And I got angry at the rioters. But scenes of people hurling bricks at the prison vans containing murderers disturbed me. But this week something happened that has changed my perspective a bit. It’s made me understand a bit more the emotional underpinning of crime as a driver of social attitude. Why? Because I was the victim of a crime and it disturbed me more than I would have predicted.
It wasn’t even a particularly dramatic crime. In fact I suspect that it was very mundane and boring. Basically, last Sunday morning Vilma and I plus three kids went off to church as usual. Now, I once got given the evil eye by the parish priest when he spotted me checking Twitter on my phone before Mass had started. So since then, I have got into the habit of leaving my phone at home when we go to Mass. It’s literally the only time in the week when my phone is more than a few feet away from me. I am one of those sad people whose entire life is on my phone – diary; contacts; Twitter; Facebook; Maps; satnav and so on. The joke in our house is that I love my phone more than anything else except beer. It’s not true; I love it more than beer! Well almost. So I know when I leave my phone somewhere and last Sunday I knew that I had left my fully charged month old iPhone 4s in the kitchen just by the cooker.
And when we all got back from church it wasn’t there. I looked for it but I knew that someone had moved it or had it. I phoned it but it went through to voicemail when I knew that it was fully charged and had been left on. I looked for it using the snazzy new iPhone tracker on my iPad but it was turned off. So I kept looking but I knew that it had been taken from my kitchen. To cut a long story short, unbeknown to us, one of our teenage kids had stayed at home whilst we were at church. They had arranged to meet a couple of friends to go out for the day. Unfortunately they didn’t know them very well, in fact had only known them for a few days. They had arrived at our house and waited in the kitchen alone for a few minutes. And Bingo!
An hour later, whilst they were all out, they made their excuses and disappeared. The Police were excellent and as the theft was from the house, and as the alleged perpetrators were known they arrived pretty quickly and took statements. But when they went looking for the ‘friends’ the names were false, contacts wrong and so on. But despite this they eventually tracked one of them down and it turns out that he was only recently out of prison. He of course denied knowing anything about my phone and the Police couldn’t find it. And then I found out that because the thief or thieves were let into the house rather than had broken in, my insurance was invalid! A new replacement iPhone will be £500 and I have two years to run on my contract at £40 per month. Great.
So all in all not a great Sunday! But over the next few days I became more and more angry. Someone that I don’t know, a stranger, had been in my home and rummaged around my personal things. They had taken my very expensive prized possession that contained huge amounts of personal information. I suppose I should be grateful it hadn’t been worse, but the fact is that I also felt distressed. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and it really bothered me, I was waking at night sometimes angry sometimes upset. Vilma has taken to locking the back door even when we are in and both of us have sat up into the small hours talking it round and round. I am sure that it will pass but right about now I feel like moving house. Now even as I write this it seems like an over-reaction. But it is how having some stranger blag their way into my home and helping themselves to my things has made me feel.
So in a funny sort of way I suddenly understand in a deeper way why it is that crime is such an important issue for many people. It is why I think that it is even more important that politicians have, and are seen to have, a tough but fair attitude towards crime. It is why Labour was so right in the past to emphasize a tough approach to low level and anti-social crime. Successful politicians will be those that show that they understand this and can articulate it in a way that people believe. Personally, whilst I’m not about to start lobbing bricks at prison vans, I do know that when it comes to the scroat that nicked my phone, understanding’ is not high on my list of priorities! And in case you are wondering – I was very measured in my response to my teenager. And I still am being, just.
Comments (3)
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It's a visceral reaction, isn't it?
Many years ago, I was the target of a clumsy pick-pocket attempt. I experienced an overwhelming desire to pop a steak knife in my handbag, the moment I got home.
That was 20yrs ago and still a fresh memory. No wonder street-life kids carry them for 'protection'.
Until that point, I had no appreciation of how it felt. We'd been burgled twice, and stuff taken - but this was a totally different magnitude, I was outraged.
Oddly I angrier with 'the authorities' that 'had let it happen', than with the person who tried it on.
I glimpsed how it was to walk in someone else's shoes.
22/01/2012 13:46You're right it's visceral. I am angry at the individual but I do know what you mean about a mode generalised anger at authority. Funny but I've really been surprised by how it's made me feel.
22/01/2012 14:24I am morbidly afraid of burglars so have a cricket bat stored for use. I would use it as well.. to hit burglars where it incapacitates them at once most painfully - the kneecaps.
You understand officer I am afraid of knives and I assumed he was going to stab me with a knife from my opened kitchen drawer.. Self defence. I am sorry the scumbag will never walk again.
23/01/2012 11:01