Jan 11, 2007

In the UK, counselling replaces catching criminals

Alexander Chancellor suffered two burglaries recently.
So what do the police actually do in these situations? The main thing they do is to take a statement from the victim of the crime, which is obviously a good idea insofar as this records what actually happened, but less so in some of its other aspects. Why, for example, do the police need to know how tall I am? Or how old I am? Or how I earn my living? Or whether I am retired? Or where I was born? These are among the questions they are required to ask of all crime victims, though it is of the criminals that one yearns to know the answers.

One will probably never know, however, for the rigid bureaucratic rituals imposed on the police seem to stifle all initiative for catching burglars. High on their list of priorities is to offer "counselling" to victims of crime, whereas in most circumstances there could be nothing as comforting to them as bringing their persecutors to justice.

Of course, if he went after the intruders with a shotgun, he'd be arrested.

Via Clive Davis.

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