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Vignettes on London Crime
" M uggings and
robberies in the
streets are increasing all
over the country-and
reaching record numbers in
London"
(The New
Standard).
which it marks"
{lntel/igence
Oigest World Report).
London streets"
(The New
Standard}.
• " The significance of the
London riot is not its
violence, which in American
terms was not very great,
• "Cases of child-battering
handled by the
National Society for !he
Prevention o! Cruelty to
Children rose by almost a
third last year according to
the Society's annual report ,
published yesterday"
(The
Times).
but in the degree of political
content which it contains and
the anti-police, anti-law and
order development stage
• "Last year 1,963
people over 60 were
attacked and robbed in
• " Rape is on the
increase in Britain. In 1969
the number of rapes
reported in England and
Wales was 869. Ten years
later in 1979-the latest
figures available-there
were 1, 170. The
London-based Rape Crisis
Centre, claims that for every
woman who reports a rape
al least another six keep
quiet"
(The Oaily Mail).
• "Serious crimes in
London increased by 5
percent last year and hall of
the 105,000 people arrested
were under 21 years of age,
annual crime figures issued
by Scotland Yard ...
showed"
(Oaily Telegraph).
often mentioned as a causal factor
in the current rash of violent
crimes.
And while Mrs. Thatcher is cer–
tainly correct in her statement that
unemployment did not cause the
Brixton riots, soari ng joblessness
did generate angry fr ustration and
general unrest among the young
people in Brixton. High unemploy–
ment is, of course, especially acute
among the West l ndian popula–
tion.
Tension between the police and
young people is another oft-men–
tioned envi ronmental causal fac–
tor. Whether rightly or wrongly,
young black people in Bri xton
believe the police force has little
use for them. And it just may be
that relations between the police
and young people have been
allowed to regress over the past 1
O
years. Metropolitan Police Com–
missioner Sir David MeNee has
recently taken measures to in–
crease police involvement in the
commun ity's needs. For instance
63 Panda cars were withdrawn
from service in central London in
favor of returning the London
hobby to foot patrols.
Sir David hit upon the root core,
environmental factor when he
recently stated that "there is an
obligation of parents to instill into
their children a sense of responsi–
bility."
The Sunday Telegraph
put
18
it this way: " The missing element
in the Brixton equation as set out so
far is surely this, the young blacks,
together with sorne whites of the
borough,
have slipped complete/y
from the control of their par–
ents .
.. " (April 19, 1981 ).
It is axiomatic that the authori–
ties cannot stop crime by them–
selves. Ultimately it is the public's
responsibility. And the fundamen–
tal arm of the public is each indi–
vidual fami ly unit. lf enough fami–
li es fail to exercise their basic
responsibility to properly educate
their children, criminal anarchy is
the ultimate result.
"Honour your father and your
mother" is the fifth of the T en
Commandments.
lt
heads the list
of those commandments that are
concerned with community rela–
tions. l f young people really honor
and respect their parents, it follows
that t hey will also honor and
respect civic authorities. But that
does not happen automatically.
Children must first be taught to
honor their father and mother.
That is an inherent familia! respon–
sibil ity incumbent upon the par–
ents.
More and more parents are
obviously fai ling to bring up thei r
children properly. They neglect to
teach their children the Ten Com–
mandments. Too many young
people are simply not taught
respect for the person and property
of others. Why?
The reasons are numerous. Per–
haps their parents' parents did not
teach them. Perhaps economic
pressures have forced a wife and
mother into the job market instead
of being at home to educate and
discipline the children. Perhaps the
father is a poor example and even
an alcohol ic. Jt may be a combina–
tion of many factors.
The Failure of Re ligion
Undergirding the overall failure of
parents to train their offspring is the
appalling decline of religious in–
fluence in the United Kingdom. The
clergy has been invested with the
responsibility of teaching society to
observe the Ten Commandments.
Unfortunately sorne pastors have
been in the forefront of actually
undermining the authority of this
basic law. The broad majority have
spoken too softly and without suffi–
cient moral authority. Only a few
have boldly warned the country of
the dire consequences of continuing
on the course that the British
people are following.
And the people are not without
blame. The nation at large tends to
center its attention almost exclu–
sively on secular matters.
But we are still writing about the
environmental causes of the crime
(Continued on page 42)
The
PLAIN TRUTH