Riot Outbreak in the UK

[sohguanh]

I am not trying to be rude or discourteous to the UK riot situation but somehow I feel the concept of welfare for the unemployed cannot be too generous. You give them monies instead of asking them to seek for employment actively will soon lead to them simply giving up hope to actively seek for employment. They are so used to receiving payouts from the government welfare scheme. And the ironic part of all is those that are gainfully employed pay very high taxes because running such a welfare scheme require a lot of funds. It doesn't help either when the English police do not carry firearms.

Reminds me of a Sex Pistols song Anarchy in the UK. When it was released in 1976 I would say the song is just an imagination from the band song-writers. Now year 2011, their song lyrics just seem to fit the situation! I hope none of the UK rioters are inspired by this song!

[lnk2019]

Xander314 wrote:

Thanks - I was going to ask for the link too. Did it appear to you that the police didn't really check who those guys were before bringing them down. I guess maybe some other officers had already identified them...

Towards the end of the video you can see a line of policemen on the other end of the street, who must have seen something.

sohguanh wrote:

I hope none of the UK rioters are inspired by this song!

I'm pretty sure the 42 inch Flat Screen TV was the only reason.

"Student jailed 6 months for stealing £3.50 bottle of water": http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8695988/London-riots-Lidl-water-thief-jailed-for-six-months.html

[anonymous23323124]

"Student jailed 6 months for stealing £3.50 bottle of water"

He costs the economy £3.50... and we waste thousands of pounds sending him in prison :@

I really think our legal system should be based more around financial compensation than prison sentences for crimes which cause only financial damage. Sure, murderers, rapists and violent criminals probably need to serve a prison sentence, but why not just fine fraudsters, small time thieves, etc? It would save money and free up prisons for more serious offenders. I know this is radical, but it seems to make much more sense than our current system.

[1vRz3TCk]

Part of the problem is that 'they' think they can get away with it. Kids know that not much can be done to them while they are under age.

If all that happened was you have to pay back what you stole the only thing to do is not get caught to often and you'll be quids in.

Send them to prison and the youth to borstal. If they don't want to be part of society remove them from it for a while. If they reoffend make the stay longer.

[lnk2019]

He costs the economy £3.50... and we waste thousands of pounds sending him in prison :@

That is true, I think in the long run, we'll save money through incarceration. I mean he steals a £3.50 bottle of water today, tomorrow he might steal a T.V. then maybe a car. I suppose this might seem unlikely but I think punishment of bad people is a worthwhile endevour.

CodeMonkey wrote:

Send them to prison and the youth to borstal. If they don't want to be part of society remove them from it for a while. If they reoffend make the stay longer.

Well said mate.

[anonymous23323124]

If all that happened was you have to pay back what you stole the only thing to do is not get caught to often and you'll be quids in.

What if you make the said bad people pay back significantly more than the damage they caused. Many small criminals become more tough in prison and are more likely to commit more serious offences having been in prison.

[1vRz3TCk]

Some time ago a little gutter snipe smashed a window on my brothers car to see what he could nick. We saw him do it and chased him, caught him and handed him over to the police. He went to court and was told to pay damages (in installments). My brother got £5 and then nothing else. The police couldn't do anything about this as it was a civil matter my brother would have had to take him to court and try to get the money back at further expense. Fines don't work. An even if they did, they would probably go out and nick other stuff to pay the fine.

[chrisname]

The trick is to have humane prisons like in Norway, which has the lowest reoffending rate in the world.

[teflondon]

I'm not sure the rioters can all be grouped as reoffenders, as I've heard that respectable middle and upperclass citizens participated in the rioting. I doubt the prison system of UK really had any influence in the riots, just as I doubt that the lunatic Anders Behring Breivik did his crimes based on the lax penal system in Norway.


Also, speaking on recidivism in inhumane prisons, I'm sure extreme prisons like China, Russia, and Saudia Arabia have lower recidivism rates. Seriously, I never would advocate a prison system similar to these countries. The statistics on recidivism makes me think the US prison system is counterproductive and should follow Norway's path.

I really wanted to make a crack at Norway for that comment but found the statistics are damning against the US penal system. I don't entirely like Norway's concept, because I'd like to make people like Anders Behring Breivik suffer. Ultimately, for the greater good... the US penal system is pretty stupid compared to Norway.