Safe Communities, Safer Streets & Reporting Crimes
Although England is a pretty safe country in comparison to some, it does have higher crime than many other countries (Switzerland’s murder rate is around 45 people per year, compared to 600 in England and Wales).
Lack of funding for our police is one factor, but there are many ways to help our police forces, which don’t involve money.
- Town planners and councils can make safer streets for women
- Report crimes (including anonymously) including rural/wildlife crime
- Learn how to prevent knife crime in communities
- Ask the police for help from a Designing Out Crime Officer
- Install emergency call points to let people report areas they feel unsafe. Calls can be anonymous (people with hearing or speech impediments can pre-register, to call by text).
- Create Neighbourhood Watch schemes (this is where groups look out for each other in communities, reporting odd behaviour). The site has good crime prevention advice.
- Employ Special Constables: These are volunteers who patrol parks, schools and shops, and can step in, before situations escalate.
Simple Tips to Help Prevent Burglaries
Most police work is for so-called ‘minor crimes’, although having your house ransacked does not feel like a minor crime. But there are simple steps that can deter burglars:
- Place ladders, bins and rubble, out of sight.
- Buy quality locks for doors, gates and bikes.
- Don’t leave items in view from windows.
- Live simply (so you don’t have expensive jewels to steal).
- Mark items of value with security marks.
- Use a reputable burglar alarm like Verisure
- Don’t tell people on social media, if you go away.
The media often focuses on the scary rise in knife crime in England. In 2024, England had 50,000 knife crimes (and increase of 80% in 10 years).
Yet nobody in the media (or in politics) seems to focus on the fact that over the border in Scotland, knife crime rates have dropped to almost zero.
A few years ago, Scotland’s streets were very dangerous (in the cities), but their communities and police forces found answers, and now we can learn from them.
In 2017 England and Wales had a combined 35 knife stabbings, whereas Scotland had none. So how did they do this?
By doing the same as Norway. Instead of ‘locking people up’, Scotland’s police forces have developed good relationships with residents and communities. With regular education and knife amnesties.
Carrying a Knife is Illegal (and lethal)
Some people are not aware that to carry any pointed or bladed article in a public place without good reason (say if you work as a chef) is against the law. And under ‘joint enterprise laws’, you can be prosecuted along with the stabber, if you are in the same group when the crime occurs.
Carrying a knife also makes you more likely to become a crime victim, it does not make you safer (a stab anywhere on the body, not just the chest) can be fatal, if the blade hits an artery.
Free Knife Crime Prevention Resources
Billy’s Wish is a charity founded in the name of an innocent victim of knife crime. It offers free resources for all schools.
Give (anonymous) Information on Knife Crime
Fearless is a site to give information (anonymously) about a crime or fight that has taken place, or is planned. The site has a quick close tab and there is no browsing history, personal details or IP address taken.
You can also give information anonymously at Crimestoppers (in some cases there are rewards, collected anonymously using a bank code).
Turning Melted Knives into Outdoor Gyms!
Steel Warriors is a London charity that melts down knives taken off the streets, then uses the steel to make ‘street outdoor gyms’ for young people.
It’s not very politically correct these days to talk about prison reform, and of course justice must be seen to be served, both as a deterrent and to bring some kind of closure to victims of crime.
Most prisoners get £76 for their journey home (which can sometimes be a tent), with 50% of prisoners reoffending within a year. This costs taxpayers around £6 billion a year.
So it’s really important to look at why prisoners reoffend, to change things for the better and create safer communities.
Does Restorative Justice Work?
Restorative justice is when the victim and criminal (not necessarily of the same crime) meet up with a trained professional, to discuss the impact that crimes have had on victims. This stemmed from a Hawaiian practice, where everyone had to get along, due to the small population.
Studies show that this is a pretty effective way to help victims feel heard. And most criminals also are deterred (for juveniles, it has an almost 100% success rate). Here’s a case study from the above site:
A boy snatched a handbag from a 99-year old wheelchair-bound woman, left screaming for help. Her son (who was pushing her) found the boy who gave back the bag, and he pleaded guilty in court.
The man met the boy in a Restorative Justice meeting, and learned that he was just 14, and had been coerced by someone else to mug his mother. After their meeting, he shook the boy’s hand (he later wrote an apology to his mother, who felt she had ‘been heard’).
This ending is not ‘politically correct’. But it’s likely that this boy will now never reoffend, less likely if he had just been sent to a juvenile detention centre, to learn more bad habits and mingle with criminals.
Norway uses prison reform ideas like this. And has re-offending rates at below 20%, far lower than England.
Giving Released (or incarcerated) Prisoners Jobs
Tap Social Beer (Oxford) sells vegan draught and canned beers (in cardboard packs), employing recently-released prisoners (or those on day release). The beers are sold at four local community spaces, in shops or online.
Pop ring-pulls back over the holes before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
The Glasshouse (Kent) trains female prisoners in horticulture, the houseplants sold online to provide trained jobs and income.
Many indoor plants (including lilies and sago palm) are unsafe near pets (even brushing a tail past can harm). Avoid facing indoor plants to outdoor gardens, to stop birds flying into windows.
Redemption Roasters (London) employs ex-prisoners in its Wembley roastery, and trains other as baristas, to work in its coffee shops. Choose loose coffee, not wasteful coffee pods.
Avoid caffeine for pregnancy/nursing. Use a sink protector mat to stop grounds clogging drains (bin them, as caffeine could harm compost bin creatures).
Does the Death Penalty Deter Crime?
No, despite around 50% of people in the UK (and around 80% of Reform UK supporters) wanting it returned for heinous crimes (say child murder). It’s understandable, but the proof is that it simply does not deter (most people who commit such crimes are psychopaths or on drugs, or both).
This is proven in the USA. Liberal north-eastern states (with no death penalty) have lower rates of murder. Yet states with the death penalty (like Texas) have much higher murder rates. The killers are not thinking of the consequences, when committing the crime. Prevention is key.
One fact often overlooked by supporters of the death penalty, is that some jurors will find the accused innocent, as they don’t want the responsibility of sentencing someone to death (this could be due to conscience or faith). So it could mean that guilty murders are free to kill again.
When England had the death penalty, most executions were carried out by Albert Pierrepoint (the son of an executioner, he hanged Ruth Ellis). In one miscarriage of justice, he hanged an innocent man with a mental age of 10 (then when the guilty man was found, he hung him too).
Later on in life, he retired to open a bed-and-breakfast? And said ‘All the men and women whom I have faced at that final moment, convince me that in what I have done, I have not prevented a single murder’.
The book Death at Midnight is by a former USA executioner, who reminds us that while those who support executions go about their lives afterwards, it’s people like him left having nightmares for the rest of their lives.
England is a relatively safe country compared to some others, but still half of young women report harassment in the last year (in France, 25% of all women fear walking alone in public places, with many being verbally harassed).
Obviously don’t walk down dark alleys if you can avoid it, but there is much that town planners can do, to make streets safer for women (and children and all people). Experts recommend:
- Well-lit pavements (use orange wildlife-friendly lights)
- Wide pavements that accommodate prams, pushchairs and wheelchairs
- Avoiding ‘hidden areas’ where prowlers could lurk unseen
- Quick easy access to public transport
- Solar bus stops (that light up when someone is waiting for a bus/train
She City is a book showing town planners how to redesign cities, towns and villages to make women feel safer walking, especially at night. It focuses on walkable communities (so females who don’t drive, don’t have to walk down alleys or along carriageways to buy food). A birthday book for your councillor!
Also download free reports: designing safe cities for women and travelling in a women’s shoes.
Clever Apps to Keep Women Safe
There are many good apps that let users alert others if they feel unsafe (from producing ‘fake’ incoming calls, to alerting others where you are):
- HollieGuard shares your location every 5 seconds, and features a personal alarm and evidence catcher. HollieGuard Extra can be used to trigger a response from emergency services.
- WalkSafe can track journeys, share locations and find ‘safe spaces’.
- bSafe enables emergency response teams to act within seconds. It uses voice command (even if your phone is inaccessible), with live GPS tracking and auto-response communication.
- EPowar offers instant emergency alerts, automatic attack detection, and reliable storing of evidence on the Cloud. You can also store live location with selected friends.
- Safetipin clicks photos every 30 minutes at night, and can send info to report how safe women feel on streets, public transport or at public toilets. Again you can send a tracking request if you feel unsafe, check out nearby safe places to wait for help, and find the safest route.
Tips to Prevent Stalking and Rape
Warning signs of stalkers include people showing up uninvited, repeated calls, text messages or gifts, someone trying to track movements, contacting your family or friends, and being watched or monitored (including online).
If safe to do so, tell the person to stop contact, and keep a record of messages and incidents. If you feel at risk, share worries with someone you trust. Rape Crisis or Victim Support give practical advice. Police also have dedicated officers to help (call 101 or 999 in an emergency).
It’s Time to Learn Some Self-Defence!
Streetwise Defence offers in-person and online self-defence classes for people of all ages and sexes. Also ideal for workplaces, schools and community groups. Learn how to get out of a stranglehold or grab, to make a quick getaway. There’s also a free mini-course.
These classes were created by a former kick-boxer (and his wife), who decided to use their immense knowledge, to create empowering self-defence courses.
Empowered by Ashley: A Personal Alarm
Empowered by Ashley is England’s most popular personal alarm. One pull of the pin from this reusable silicone device, and attackers are struck by a noise as loud as a jet engine, and a bright flashing LED strobe. Obviously this is not ‘natural’, but can save your life, if you are being attacked.
In recent years, it’s become terrifying the amount of mass shootings in the world, and some of them are now happening in England, which has far less of a gun culture than abroad.
But despite the panic caused by both the event (and often the media), there are proven ways to help prevent these awful tragedies, in most cases. Forget ‘political correctness’. Nothing excuses anyone shooting anyone, but it helps to know some causes, to stop the same happening again.
Vote for Peace
There is never any excuse for mass shootings. But often they have political or religious hatred causes. That’s not to say the shooters are justified, but voting for parties that promote peace (rather than create more hatred by arming countries to bomb children’s hospitals etc) helps to foster world peace.
After the tragic shootings on Sydney beach, the Israeli Prime Minister immediately began to put blame on politicians, the same happened with President Trump in the USA, when Charlie Kirk was shot.
Neither does anything to help prevent the same happening again. Politicians have responsibility to bridge divides, not create more hatred and division.
Prevent Bullying (in schools and workplaces)
Many teenagers who participate in school shootings often have a history of being bullied at the school they have carried out their crimes. So preventing bullying is obviously one way to prevent such tragedies happening again. And remember bullying can also happen in the workplace.
Listen to Warnings (they’re usually there)
One surprising fact from research, is that nearly all mass shooters give a good indication of what they are about to do, whether that’s telling someone, or posting on social media.
So better monitoring can help to prevent further shootings. Register your school at Sandy Hook Promise, to take online courses to prevent shootings.
One way to help is for parents to use BARK app: This tool scans messages and posts (without being too intrusive) for talk about bullying, self-harm, threats and talk about weapons). In the USA (where it was invented), this app has prevented at least two school shootings.
Know the Links Between Animal and Human Abuse
Nearly all serial killers (and this includes mass shooters) have a history of cruelty to animals (most people who own lots of guns are hunters).
Animal Legal Defense Fund has more information on this, which is a huge factor in preventing crimes to both animals and humans. You can take free courses to learn more.
Don’t Encourage Play with ‘Violent Toys’
The daughter of Gwen Mayor (the teacher at Dunblane who died with defensive wounds, holding a dead child in her arms) does not allow her own children to play with toy guns or violent video games. Instead, she teaches them about hedgehogs, her mother’s favourite animal.
Don’t Let ‘Evangelists’ Promote Guns
In Guns We Trust is a book by the New England borough chief on duty, when one man shot dead 20 children and 6 staff at Sandy Hook school, before shooting his mother dead, and then himself.
The author argues that tragedies occur due to 100 million people in one country owning guns, often promoting ‘white Christian evangelism’ (one of the victims was a young schoolteacher who protected the children, herself the daughter of immigrants).
What’s surprising is that nearly all mass shootings are from people who are registered gun owners, meaning they passed all the ‘safety checks’, so obviously a cultural change is also needed. The killer actually used guns belonging to his mother, who had bought them to train her son to shoot.
The author asks in this book how his Christian faith (rooted in Jesus’ call to ‘turn the other cheek’) got hijacked? He also introduces us to Christians who would never own a gun. Like the residents of an Amish village whose residents forgave a killer of schoolchildren, and even helped to pay for (and attend) the funeral of the gunman, to help his bereaved family.
Most of us could never imagine being that forgiving – but they were following the real teachings of Christ. The killer’s parents even forgave their son due to the Amish example, and his mother spent the rest of her life, campaigning against gun violence.
The author also meets activists who are ‘beating guns into garden tools’, and nuns who bought company stock, so they could force a gun manufacturer to do more, to prevent gun violence.
Of course, we all know to call 999 to report emergencies (if you don’t speak, press 55 or tap when prompted, to be transferred from your mobile – from landlines, hearing only background noise will prompt the operator to transfer your call to the police).
Call 101 for non-emergencies (burglaries that have already happened, minor issues and crime prevention advice) or report online via your police website.
How to Anonymously Report Crime
Phone or report online at Crimestoppers (including rural crime and wildlife crimes). Everything is anonymous (no-one’s cover has been blown). You can request to receive a reward (using a code that you take to the bank).
Crimestoppers was set up by Lord Ashcroft (who campaigns to stop wildlife crime) after people were too frightened to come forward after the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the 1985 London riots. Since then, millions of people have reported crimes, leading to over 140,000 arrests.
There is currently a £20,000 reward in place for anyone giving information on the 1997 murder of Devon girl Kate Bushell (her neighbour’s dog was found wandering the area, alerting police).
Crimestoppers also runs campaigns to set up Neighbourhood Watch Schemes, avoid irresponsible use of fireworks and keeping safe (including in cases of domestic abuse).
Where to Report Fraud
Contact Report Fraud (cyber crime) or Action Fraud (scams etc).
Find Victim Support
Victim Support offers a confidential service by phone, Text Relay, live chat or online form (with a response within three working days).
