Part two of a file at the National Archives about a January 1986 seminar on crime prevention at 10 Downing Street as Mrs Thatcher sought to do something about rising crime.
A perennial issue for a government of whatever political colour was its image. Hence an assistant private secretary, the day after the seminar, wrote that the event โreceived a reasonable press coverageโ, and added that it was important to maintain a high profile. A question, according to the assistant, was how to disseminate best practice. One letter was to Robin Thompson of the brewer Allied Breweries, among the businesses represented at the seminar. The letter described a Home Office crime prevention study of Newcastle and Sunderland in 1981-2, about crime associated with pubs; โโฆ on Friday and Saturday nights a quarter of all disorder occurred in the half hour following closing time with a second and equally notable peak immediately after the end of โspecial hoursโ. In other words, the study found clear links between disorderly behaviour and drinking in the city centre; and particularly in four streets that had 12 pubs. Trouble arose when groups of young men did the rounds of pubs and clubs; and at taxi ranks, bus stops and on buses. Disorder in pubs was because of overcrowding; inexperienced staff; and โyoungstersโ without the controlling influence of elders; and a lack of transport to dispel those crowds of drinkers. In other words, we might add, the causes of such crime and disorder was known for years, and indeed was a weekly sight in any city.
Some crimes, then, were chronic, and some of the answers more or less obvious โ police taxi ranks, alter pub licences โ yet those in authority could not or would not come up with the details of policy.
Appeals
Even though seminars about any subject were better at stating problems than finding and then driving solutions, some people hankered after being invited. The file shows that on the eve of the seminar, the marketing director of Yale Securities, Keith Woolley, rang number 10, to make the case for an invitation. Downing Street also got a call from the local party (Yale was based in the West Midlands) to back him. Separately, the rank and file police representative body the Police Federation complained among themselves and in a letter to Douglas Hurd that they werenโt invited. Hurd wrote book to soothe the Federation.
Question
Crime loomed as a party-political issue. The Home Office after the seminar anticipated a hostile question about it; opponents might see it as another example of the Government โtalking a lot and doing very littleโ. Hence a briefing note, that claimed success and practical achievements. A Daily Star editorial the day after the seminar complained of increasing crime. Hurd agreed to provide an article for the Star, to defend the Government. Among his case he promised not to release murderers until they had served at least 20 years; and that the Government was building more prison places than at any time; and crime had been rising steadily for 30 years. Hurd (without spelling out that the public including Star readers ought to do more) suggested locking a car door, or fastening windows in an empty house, or designing things as criminal-proof in the first place (house builders were among those at the seminar).
Time with Mrs T
The file also gives a hint at how precious a minister and PMโs time were; and, the other side of the coin, how those around them prized any contact, no matter how brief, which could mean influence. Mrs Thatcher would not chair the summer follow-up, Hurd would; but Mrs Thatcher might join it for a drink at the end. John Boyd, the chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway, was chair of a National Crime Prevention Committee, and was reportedly disappointed not to speak at the seminar. However, he was happy when introduced to the PM afterwards, and talked to her for โfour or fiveโ minutes.
Briefing
A โspeaking noteโ for the Home Secretary for a press conference after the seminar was enlightening. โWe are all at war with crime,โ it stated. Continuing the metaphor, it said: โOur front line is our police service and criminal justice system โฆ. and we in government will support and assist them vigorously. But no war can be waged successfully without the active support of those being defended.โ The not went on to say that most crimes were against property; and proposed ways to encourage the public to take greater care of their own possessions. A document produced before the seminar quoted 1979 research that where the London Underground had more police and CCTV, crime (unsurprisingly?) was reduced. As for hospitals, some made โunusually heavyโ demands on police services, for example due to theft of and damage to parked cars. Also quoted was fear of crime among hospital staff. As for shop theft, retailers were arresting offenders with store detectives. A shoplifting unit at Marylebone police station was taking in about 120 arrested shoplifters a week, which cost ยฃ100 each to process. Shopping centres had some success with business watch schemes, โfor trades to join together to form an early warning system against potential shopliftersโ.
‘Confidence’
That briefing note for Hurd argued that โthe first step is to restore public confidence that crime can (underlined) be reduced โฆ. crime prevention is a major objectiveโ. Besides doing things, the Government wanted to change attitudes. The notes for Cubbon spoke of โreducing opportuniesโ for crime: โIt is fair to say that for the past 100 years or so public health issues have received considerable attention and major advances have been made. On the whole we no longer have buildings that are blatant health hazards but we most certainly have a great many buildings and other features of modern life particularly urban life today which are blatant crime hazards.โ Mostly, according to Cubbonโs notes, they were talking about young men, (aged 12 to 22). He described crime as โnot accidentalโ: โIt is something which we as a society produce and it is also something which we can very largely prevent.โ As for public transport, most violence arose from disputes about fares โ in other words, violence happened to bus conductors (before drivers took fares also).
Shop theft
On shoplifting, the note gave some statistics: 248,792 offences recorded in 1984, or 22 per cent more than 1979 (the year the Conservatives under Mrs Thatcher came to power). Shop theft comprised seven per cent of all recorded crime. No figures were available about crime, or false accounting losses, although they were โclearly very substantialโ. As a further sign of how fraud was avoided by the authorities, it only became recorded in the official Crime Survey of England and Wales in 2017 โ when it became at once the largest type of crime. But to return to shop theft; contrary to popular belief, the typical shoplifter wasnโt a mentally disturbed, middle-aged woman. The known offender was typically young and male. โThis is all the more significant considering that more shopping is done by women.โ More than half of known shoplifters were under 21. As a sign of how businesses had other things in mind than crime reduction, the note stated that many stores were more concerned to boost sales than to prevent losses. House building was also a business. The Home Office likened making homes more secure to home insulation; it came at a cost, but that could be spread over years.
