Security, Crime and Justice - one of the six areas under review
Crime has fallen sharply in recent years. There are record numbers of police backed by thousands of community support officers, a whole range of new measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, tougher sentences and more serious offenders in jail while the criminal justice is being re-balanced in favour of the victims and the community as a whole.
But crime remains high. And no matter what the statistics suggest, fear of crime still blights the lives of many people and many communities. Drug-fuelled crime and violence remain particular worries not just in Britain but across all developed societies. There are fears that, without action, we may see increasing tensions and divisions in our communities.
The challenge for the criminal justice system in the coming decades is to continue pressing down on overall crime while stepping up efforts to tackle problem areas. Technological advances, as DNA and CCTV have already done, will offer us new weapons to prevent and detect crime. But there are worries, as in the past, about the balance shifting too far against civil liberties. We also need to find effective methods including early intervention and support to tackle the hard core of criminals responsible for so many offences and so much distress.
A paper on Security, Crime and Justice from the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit has been published.
