By Alan Chwick, Joanne Eisen
New York, NY –-(Ammoland.com)- We American gun owners know we are in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.
We’re protecting our families and our communities. And at the same time, we’re protecting the precious freedoms we leave to our children as outlined in our Bill of Rights.
We don’t have to lie or obfuscate any facts to know we’re right. But the British philosophy needs exactly that. It’s no surprise that the latest Winsor report has gone missing.
In May, 2013, Tom Winsor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, promised a review of the quality of crime data recording, by the police, in a new report. He would especially assess, “circumstances where crimes are incorrectly recorded or not recorded as crimes but are recorded as incidents.” An ‘incident‘ is not a ‘notifiable crime‘ so it is not reported to the Home Office and is simply flushed down the constabulary toilet.
The review of the integrity of the statistics was ordered by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, but as of September, the ThinBlueLine said, “the findings of work by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor have not been made public.”
We don’t need to ask why.The question is how much.
Commissioner Ian Johnston of the Gwent police said, “Feedback from the public on their experience with cops is that there’s an emphasis on whether something is a crime or not rather that getting on and dealing with it and giving the public what they want.”
As an example, one woman complained in the comment section of a crime statistic article from the BBC, “In the last week for instance my mother had her purse stolen whilst at a bus stop however this is recorded as ‘Lost’ not stolen – the station officer admitted that due to no proof…it would be recorded as lost not stolen.” There goes another flush of the toilet.
But be that as it may, data is showing a reduction in crime. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), has also been showing a decline in crime. Although it does not cover commercial/business crime, which runs at about 9.2 million incidents, categories of crime are comparable to police recorded crime. However, while Police Recorded Crime figures show a reduction of 41% since 2002/2003, the survey figures only show a 26% decrease.
Still, isn’t a decrease a decrease? Even if the police flush crimes instead of documenting them, the internationally lauded CSEW would pick them up using direct contact with subjects, as it appears to have done.
Wouldn’t the CSEW trends be enough to satisfy the public, the elected officials, the firearm phobes who are vested in showing crime reductions? Why all the subterfuge with police recorded crime? Is the CSEW not accurate? Is it not showing enough of a crime drop? What would be enough? What exactly is happening in the United Kingdom?
We are not British statisticians nor do we have access to the raw data or the statistical shenanigans used by those statisticians. The British folk know something is wrong. We know something is wrong.
Although the Winsor report may also be headed for the toilet, what was recently released is the annual report of the Crime Statistics Advisory Committee. Suggestions include major changes to classifications of police recorded crime and changes in the way in which crime statistics are presented to the public. But it does not discuss any change in the handling of “incidents” by police.
So, if these suggested changes go into effect, there will be more obfuscation of statistics and more difficulty in discerning crime trends.
We suggest that the new Winsor report should be released. And then we need to start asking questions about the CSEW. The British public do not need improvements that veil truth.
They want their guns back, not lies that encourage defenseless victim-hood. We American gun owners want truth, because truth vindicates our actions.
The authors:
Mr. Alan J. Chwick has been involved with firearms much of his life, and is currently the Managing Coach of the Freeport Junior Club (FJC), at the Freeport NY Revolver & Rifle Association, Freeport, NY.
Dr. Joanne D. Eisen practices dentistry on Long Island, NY. She has collaborated and written on firearm politics for the past 20 years, and is a Senior Fellows at the Independence Institute in Denver, CO.
And, before long, the Droogies will be beating, raping and murdering their way across the english country side to the tune of “Singin’ in the Rain”. It will be recorded, by police, as “wilding” just like it is here in the U.S.A.
Of course the American government plays the same sort of statistical games. Civilian shootings are recorded federally in such a manner that no one ever goes back and notes whether or not they were justified, as in self-defense or defense of others. So they just show up as shootings, as in violent crime.
“At the convenience of the government.”
Think about it, and shudder.
We’re never getting a straight answer out of the British power holders. They don’t want to look bad in front of the EU. And with no right to self-defense, the people of the United Kingdom can, at best, curl into a ball and pray they don’t get kicked, stabbed, or shot to death, where it will likely be recorded as an incident, “death by misadventure.”