Violent crime police cautions up

by Nic Rigby
BBC News Website, Norwich

The number of cautions issued by police for violent crimes in the East of England more than doubled in the last four years, a BBC survey has revealed.

Cautions for violent crimes, which include common assault and wounding offences, rose from 4,111 in 2002/2003 to 8,929 in 2005/2006.

Police said the increase was partly due to an increased emphasis on targeting of violent crime.

The BBC requested the figures under the Freedom of Information Act.

Forces included in the survey were Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk.

The figures show that the total number of cautions issued by police in the East for all crimes, including burglary, sex crimes and assaults, rose from 18,587 in 2002/2003 to 29,880 in 2005/2006.

Police cautions for Violent crimes in the East

2002/2003: 4,111

2003/2004: 4,919

2004/2005: 6,498

2005/2006: 8,929

Colleen Moore, senior lecturer in criminology at Anglia Ruskin University, based in Cambridge, said the increase may be due to police over the last five years putting more effort into targeting anti-social behaviour in city centres.

"Police may also cautions more because we are living in a less tolerant society, issuing cautions for behaviour that in the past may have warranted an informal word," she said.

"Police see the giving of cautions as a way to stop something more serious happening."

George Mair, Professor of Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University, said he believed the "drink culture" had a lot to do with the increase.

"There are lots of young people drinking massive amounts and getting involved in fights which gets recorded as violent crime and those kind of offences."

'Target crime for police'

He added: "Violent crime is a mish-mash of offences. It sounds horrific - violent crime - but it's a wide-ranging category including playground violence."

Neil Franklin, a spokesman for Cambridgeshire Police, said: "People who otherwise would have been given an informal warning (in the past) are now likely to be dealt with a caution, which is an official sanction. They are not getting the soft option of an informal warning."

He said it was important to point out that while the number of cautions had gone up, the total number of crimes had gone down.

A Norfolk Police spokesman said: "A significant change since 2002/03 is that violent crime has become a target crime for police forces.

"Cautions include reprimands and final warnings for young offenders (17 and under). As Youth Offending Teams have developed they are making greater use of these types of disposal to deal with young offenders."

Arrests up by 10,000

He added: "The Force is also placing greater emphasis on domestic violence and where the complainant indicates an unwillingness to support a prosecution but there is evidence to justify a caution, this facility will be used."

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: "Between April 2005 and March 2006, Essex Police officers arrested 10,000 more people than they did in the previous 12 months, so that led to more crimes being detected and more people being held responsible - the number of cautions would be expected to increase proportionately in line with this."

A formal caution will normally be given by an officer of inspector rank or above. It is regarded as a serious matter and may be cited in any subsequent court proceedings.

It is administered in cases where there is sufficient evidence for a prosecution and where the subject has admitted guilt.