Although we can safely say that the world isn’t as dangerous as it was decades ago, human behaviour changes frequently, developing new patterns for psychologists to explore. One of the latest ━and most worrying is the contribution of social media engagement to illicit behaviour, such as assaults and intimidation.
This trend is not new. Since the beginning of social media, young people have been involved in challenges on these platforms. Some of them were harmless and intended to spread awareness about a cause, such as the Livestream for Good movement. However, in some cases, people promote acts of theft as provocation, which is not easy for authorities to handle.
At the same time, numerous other factors contribute to crimes. Therefore, the police must change its approach to mitigating these issues. But are they efficient?
What are some of the causes of crime in the UK?
The spectrum of crime is vast, as it goes beyond violence. Sometimes, it can be a form of vandalism, burglary or vehicle theft. Unfortunately, there’s been a trend for young adults to be the subjects of these happenings, most targeting urban areas.
Even if explaining such activities is challenging, we can look at it from two perspectives. First, the nature argument shows us that some people are more inclined to commit crimes than others based on their brain chemicals, while youngsters under 25, whose brains aren’t fully developed, have this excuse.
On the other hand, the nurture argument reveals that people who live in poverty, such as those with low-income family relationships, are also included in the case scenario. For example, recent data in Scotland puts mental health, alcohol misuse and drug misuse as the leading causes of people’s illicit behaviour.
Unfortunately, people in deprived areas are more likely to experience crimes compared to urban areas, which is a heartbreaking reality. Still, people can seek justice, especially if they have proof or witnesses. According to https://www.compensationcalculatoruk.co.uk/criminal-injuries-compensation- calculator, criminal injuries make the case for compensation if a person is hurt physically or psychologically (or both). Broken bones, mental health injuries and ABH are serious issues that must be tackled by professional help, so seeking compensation to help deal with the problem is possible.
Are police prepared to mitigate these challenges?
The problem is that the government isn’t helping that much when it comes to prevention. After government cuts a few years ago that continued until recently due to a funding crisis, crime rates might’ve spiked because of this.
Although the number of 20,000 officers detained was recovered recently, the financial challenges are keeping the sector in austerity. The continuous budgetary pressure on the police staff is making things difficult, considering that the nature of crime has changed in past years, and the demand for more staff isn’t fulfilled strictly when crime rates are increasing.
Still, newly recruited officers lack certain useful modern-day skills, such as digital forensics. On the other hand, the numerous scandals have made people lose trust in the staff and probably contributed to perpetrators’ greater confidence in their tactics.
How does the government plan to improve productivity?
While politics is getting in the way of doing things right, the government has proposed a few methods of lowering crime rates and developing a superior police system. According to a governmental publication, an additional £18.4 billion was invested in policing. But that’s not all; over £65 million will include technological investments like facial recognition, drones, and automated triage of 101 calls.
The Centre for Police Productivity will also appear in autumn 2024, during which new opportunities for improvement will arise as progress will be evaluated more strictly
Therefore, we’re hoping that the next few years will deliver more safety to the stress regardless of the region.
Still, challenges must also be handled
Despite the considerable investments, many other challenges require urgent care in the UK police sector. The demanding and stressful work contributes to burnout, so many of the staff have revealed they’re struggling with extreme fatigue.
In addition, dissatisfaction with pay and low community morale make police staff want to quit the job, showcasing worryingly low retention levels, with more than 9,000 officers resigning in the past year.
The ongoing cycle of citizens’ lack of respect and value and police staff’s poor work seems to have no end in sight, only if the government addresses the challenges the sector faces.
Young people must be diverted away from violence
Finally, the subject that needs more attention is the education we’re offering to the next generation. It has been widely discussed how the education system is failing, with massive regional disparities in the country challenging teachers. Parents are also disappointed in how the public system handles education, so they choose homeschooling instead, with more than 10,000 kids being educated at home.
Unfortunately, many kids are easily exploited by or caught up in criminal gangs, and they’re not helped through proper programs. Instead, They face stereotypes and “bad looks” by adults and society. It would be considerably better to address the elephant in the room and not just sweep the problems under the rug because it won’t disappear.
Children of the future need our support as a community in order to help them overcome specific problems that arise due to family problems most of the time. Additionally, mental health issues must be managed, not ignored, as past generations did.
Do you feel safe on the UK’s streets?
Crime cases have increased in the UK in the past years. In many instances, social media and online challenges contribute to vandalism as a way to oppose the government.
However, more crime is happening due to the lack of police staff, poor skills, and no significant investments from the government. Still, it has been recently stated that by 2025, more money will be pumped into technological investments that will help new staff solve crime problems. Of course, new laws on staff requirements will appear, but we’ll have to wait for the new government’s agenda.
