It was impressive to see Tory MP Robert Jenrick confronting suspected fare-dodgers on the London Underground. When mayor of New York, Rudi Giuliani popularised the ‘broken windows’ approach by cracking down hard on misdemeanours that cumulatively created a sense of lawlessness which led to more major crime – and by doing so transformed a declining, shabby city. We need that same approach in Britain now.
The Shadow Justice Secretary took no small personal risk by approaching young men who had pushed through barriers without paying their fares. One of them claimed to have a knife. Lefty commentators might have sneered, but fare dodging costs Transport for London (TFL) £130million a year and ordinary taxpayers are sick of it. And everyday defiance of law and order is becoming the signature of our age.
Our streets are fly-tipped, dirty and graffiti is spreading like weeds, motorists ignore the Highway Code with abandon and shoplifters barge through stores grabbing handfuls of goods while shop-owners are actively discouraged from accosting them – either because they’ll end up being charged for assault or they face being attacked.
Ironically, Jenrick himself was even chided for not getting permission from TFL to film the alleged fare-dodgers. This says it all about over regulated Britain today that ties up law-abiding people with never-ending rules and yet leaves law breakers free to flout the justice system. TfL should have thanked Mr Jenrick and immediately installed transport police in the worst afflicted stations.
But all we hear from this soft-on-crime government is that up to 43,000 criminals – including burglars, knife offenders and shoplifters – will be let off prison and given community sentences instead, according to Labour plans to scrap jail sentences under 12 months.
On top of that 1,500 killers and rapists will be eligible for early release in order to free up prison spaces. And yet a tweeter like Tory councillor’s wife Lucy Connolly is still on course to serve her full 31-month sentence. The unfairness of it all creates a sense of unease and lawlessness that only encourages more people to break the law. It is time for Labour to take a lesson from the past.
Like London and many of our cities and towns today, New York in the 1970s had become notorious for its sense of decay and urban blight. Graffiti everywhere, rampant crime on the streets, and demotivated police.
In 1982, a conservative think tank devised the ‘broken windows’ theory saying that if a broken window is left unfixed, it gives the impression that no one cares about the building and vandals break more windows. If it is fixed immediately, it discourages wanton destruction. The same is true of littered streets, whereas a clean street is less likely to attract rubbish.
The New York police adopted the theory and thoroughly cleaned the subway system of graffiti. Next they pursued a tougher stance on fare evasion and sped up the arrest process. Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani ran with it and stopped public drinking and urination. By 2001, petty and serious crime had fallen significantly and New York had become a safer, more pleasant place to visit.
Britain now needs the same kind of policing revolution with community patrolling officers protecting shops from thieving, coming down hard on anti-social behaviour and enforcing all minor laws because only that will create a sense of security in our inner city areas. Enforcing non-criminal hate incidents does little to improve our urban environment and is a colossal waste of police time and resources.
If more prison spaces are needed then build more prisons because the public must be reassured that law-breakers will be taken off the streets. Prison is not only about rehabilitation but about satisfying a social need for prompt punishment. Robert Jenrick is to be applauded for highlighting this issue and has done himself a lot of political favours by putting himself on the frontline to tackle it.
Keir Starmer is very keen on talking the talk but little of what he says seems to result in any action, from stopping illegal migrants to petty criminals degrading our high streets.
What we want to see is more politicians getting off their backsides and confronting law-breakers, shaming them, and sharing our own everyday experiences of crime. It’s this new kind of active politician that will get voters on their side and defeat this do-little government.
