"Murderous London is like old New York"

[English]

What complete tosh.
London certainly isn't crime free but that article is just sensationalist rubbish.
I've been to London dozens and dozens of times and not once have I been a victim of crime, seen violence or felt in danger.
To say people expect to be burgled in Islington and Notting Hill is far fetched in the extreme.

In short. Rubbish.

[English]

Iv'e never been a London neighborhood and expected to get mugged.

This story is quite ridiculous.

Fear of crime is certainly out of control in the UK, it's getting seriously out of hand in my opinion. Articles like this are just further proof of this alarmist and frankly hysterical atmosphere towards crime in Britain. Yes, crime is a problem, but the vast majority of it is petty theft and vandalism. Ask most people and they seem to imagine that you'll get murdered or be attacked by gangs of hooded youths if you venture out after dark. Just nonsense.
Serious incidents do occur, as they do in EVERY country in the world, however Britain is far from the lawless, lethally dangerous country people portray it to be. I regularly socialise in Leeds and Manchester, 2 cities with fearsome reputations. The worst I've seen is a few prostitutes and the odd drunken fight.

[English]

Hmm, this makes the second article in the last 3 months that I read about out of control crime in the UK.

I'm certainly happy not to live there.

Tory and I have already refuted these articles. It's just merely conjecture and personal opinion, clearly uninformed opinion at that!
The homicide rate in the UK is among the lowest in the world. In fact I believe it's half that of Canada, yet we have twice Canada's population. Sexual Assault rates in Britain are also a mere fraction of those in the US.
These articles are little more than complete tripe perpetuated by frankly paranoid, bitter individuals who think every teenager on the street is a mugger and every youth who knocks on your door is a murderer or rapist. Utter rubbish.
You only need watch UK TV to see where they get it from. Every week there are hundreds of programs about gangs and anti-social youths, ridiculous. Britain is turning into a nation which actively fears and loathes it's children. It's a terrible state to be in.

[English]

The NRA!!!!??? Oh PLEASE!!
I really can't abide people telling me my country is a dangerous, crime ridden hole when they don't even live here, or in some cases have never even visited.
You cannot compare most crime statistics between nations as the way crime is recorded varies enormously. UK police forces issue crime numbers for extremely petty offences, for insurance purposes. Do other nations? Perhaps not.
Whether you chose to believe me is your affair, however the chance of being murdered in Britain is extremely remote indeed. A city like Leeds which has a high crime rate has perhaps 8 or 9 homicides per year and most of those are gang related. A similar sized US city like Baltimore has perhaps 50 times this!
As for assaults, yes they're more common here, but you know why? The UK has a culture of heavy drinking and high alcohol consumption. 95% of these assaults are alcohol related, bar brawls etc. If you keep to yourself or you don't frequent dodgy bars you'll be fine. As far as burglary and car theft are concerned, the UK has a problem true, but then again it's due to poor security (or no security?). People leaving doors and windows open etc. It's all oportunism. Robbery and burglary with violence is extremely rare.
So please refrain from continuing this tirade as you're evidently very misinformed and there's no wonder when you consider which articles you've been reading. The UK/Euro-hating gun obsessed NRA and right wing cranks from the Daily Telegraph.

[English]

http://www.crime-reduction.gov.uk/sta_index.htm

End of argument. Soaring crime in the UK is a myth.

More Proof.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/1619107.stm

http://www.cipfa.org.uk/publicfinance/news_details.cfm?news_id=18928

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0%2C11026%2C999752%2C00.html

Crime in the UK is falling. Changes in how it's recorded and the fact that 'black eyes' and theft of garden gnomes etc. are now recorded, mask the true trend in crime which is downwards. These show the facts, not just conjecture and opinion from some right wing US organisation.

[English]

Again, most of the perceived boom in crime in Britain is claptrap....
It's just utter hysteria...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3044625.stm

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All the crime figures you could ever want here....

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cnscj.pdf

Compares crime rates in the US/UK/Canada/Australia etc.

Quite funny actually Richius, because if you care to analyse the figures above you'll find for Homicide, Rape & Armed Robbery, Canada is worse than the UK!!
Scotland actually has some of the lowest crime figures.

Yet more evidence that 'Crime Ridden UK' is a load of nonsense.

[English]

Just one absurdity with comparing crime figures between nations.....

According to the International Crime Survey, Finland has a higher crime rate than Colombia!! Er? Somehow I think not!!  I think I'd feel safe walking around Helsinki at night than Bogota!

[English]

Thanks for pointing out that it's extremely difficult to compare crime statistics from one nation to another. IT IS!! The UK has an extremely low tolerance to crime and it's growing more intollerant by the minute. Whereas in the 1960's people shrugged off many incidents, they'd now report it to the police. That explains a lot of the increase. My father was only saying the other day how fights were just part and parcel of a night out back in the 60's and 70's. It was just accepted and seldom reported to the police. Now of course, violence isn't tollerated whatsoever (and rightly so). Likewise I'm sure many bar fights in small towns in Alberta or Wyoming still aren't reported to the police.