Posted by
Greg England on Saturday, October 25, 2008 4:03:27 PM
In September 2007, I stated that I was skeptical about the official crime figures, and that violent crime in the UK was much more of a problem than was being officially reported:
http://gregengland.blogtownhall.com/2007/09/01/crime_and_punishment.thtml
I even responded to criticisms from my peers, who thought I was exaggerating the problem:
http://gregengland.blogtownhall.com/2007/09/07/crime_and_punishment_-_part_2.thtml
How could Greg England be ranting about increases in violent crime, when the official statistics were showing a decrease?
Well, at last the truth has come out:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/24/ukcrime-police
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7685908.stm
The BBC says:
"A number of police forces in England and Wales have been
undercounting some of the most serious violent crimes, the government has
admitted.
It means figures for serious violent crimes rose by 22% compared to last year
- rather than showing a fall as previous figures appeared to indicate.
The mistake happened when some crimes classed as "grievous bodily harm with
intent" were recorded as less serious. Figures say overall crime is down, and ministers say these can be trusted.
The government says it does not know how long the undercounting has been
going on - leading to concerns that figures on violent crime may have been wrong
for up to a decade."
Greg England does victory dance
PS: I also predicted that recession would occur in the UK as far back as early 2006. My basic complaints were rapid house price inflation, and a culture of easy credit. I have the evidence to prove this. However, due to strict requirements of anonymity I am wary of publishing anything on this blog that would identify me. So you'll just have to take my word on that.