Crime and the Police
It is difficult, in the absence of reliable statistics, to estimate significance of the " crime wave " which has assumed su prominence in the Press in recent weeks. One is tempted correlate it with the absence of any political developments of cc parable sensational value ; Conservative votes of censure, revolts Azerbaijan and meetings of Foreign Secretaries find it hard compete in news value with murder and robbery under arms. In fa however, it would have been surprising if, as an aftermath of there had not been an increase in lawlessness, and it is interest' that there has recently been a similar increase in crimes of violen in the United States. In this country, the increase has been associat with the large numbers of deserters from the British and Ali] armed forces who are still at large ; of equal importance is proba the large numbers of lethal weapons which have found their ‘■ into the hands of the civil population. Fundamentally, how es the most serious cause is the enormous strain imposed on our poll forces by war conditions, the recruitment of police officers into armed forces, and the decline in the supply of new and train recruits ; and the most obvious method of combating the in,:re in crime is by the immediate release of all trained police per,o and by the recruitment of new ones. It is very possible, howev that an adequate supply of new recruits will not be forthcom, without a considerable improvement in their terms of service, wh' have not improved comparably with those now prevailing either industry or the armed forces.
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