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Angela W
Apr 17, 08 - 10:53 AM |
Eatern European Crime in UK
Crimes committed by Eastern European migrants 'up by 800 per cent'
Crimes committed by Eastern European immigrants have increased by up to 800 per cent in some parts of the country, new figures show.
The findings cast doubts on a report from the Association of Chief Police Officers which said that the surge in immigrants had not fuelled a rise in crime
The study found that migrant crime had put extra pressure on forces, diverting cash away from other crime fighting duties but had not lead to an increase in crime.
But a survey of eight police forces by The Daily Telegraph using the Freedom of Information Act found and average increase of 300 per cent in crimes committed by migrants from eastern Europe over the past three years.
Kent reported a rise of over 800 per cent.
Speaking after the publication of the ACPO report, Julie Spence, head of Cambridgeshire Police, who first raised concerns about migrant crime, said her force dealt with people from 93 different cultures speaking more than 100 different languages.
She added: "Looking after victims and witnesses and managing community tensions is substantially more complex now than three years ago.
"We have seen an increase in specific offences such as motoring offences, sex trafficking, and worker exploitation - a form of modern day slavery.
"Our workload and its complexity is increasing. Some parts of the country are no doubt unaffected by this. However, Cambridgeshire certainly is."
The row over the number of immigrants committing crimes comes as police chiefs are to disclose that many officers are left "blind" because foreign countries like Poland refuse to pass on information from criminal databases.
Senior police officers will later today tell Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, that police officers are finding it hard to do background checks on suspects.
Police officers will call for a new EU agreement to allow "easy sharing of information across all member states", particularly the 10 accession countries.
Peter Fahy, chief constable of Cheshire, who co-wrote the ACPO study, said the "influx of eastern Europeans has created pressures on forces in some areas".
These included "local rumour and misunderstandings fuelling tensions which police have had to be proactive in resolving".
There were also "significant increases in spending on interpreters, which can also make investigations more complex", he said.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith described the report as "very helpful" in "getting the issues into proportion".
Miss Smith said: "When new people come into any community it can bring pressures, those changes need to be responded to, and I want to work with chief police officers to find the best way of doing that.
"That is why I think tomorrow’s meeting will be very useful and today’s report is a help towards that as well."
The figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show six out of eight forces recorded increases in crimes or offences.
Poles accounted for the bulk of the suspected criminals, with figures showing a 154 per cent jump to 1,364 between 2004/5 and 2006/7.
The biggest increase was felt in Kent where the number of Poles suspected of crimes surged by over 800 per cent since 2004/5.
Other large increases were among suspected criminals from the Czech Republic (up 276 per cent to 422), Romania (up 361 per cent to 498) and Lithuania (up 53 per cent to 466).
All 43 forces in England and Wales were asked to provide data however only Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, West Midlands, Kent, Cheshire, Suffolk, West Mercia and Cumbria were able to help.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/16/nmigrant316.xml
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Angela W
Apr 17th, 2008 - 11:04 AM |
Re: Eatern European Crime in UK
Also
'Blind spot' on migrant suspects
Police chiefs have said a lack of co-operation from Eastern European countries has left them "blind" to suspected criminals living in Britain.
The report for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is in response to concerns about problems associated with a sudden influx of east Europeans.
It said community tensions are at a minimum, but police are blocked by a lack of details from agencies abroad.
Top officers are to discuss the report with the home secretary on Thursday.
'Poor intelligence'
Acpo said officers had been left "blind" due to the lack of information from countries such as Poland.
The report reads: "At a neighbourhood, Basic Command Unit and force level, access to accession state intelligence is poor.
"The Polish national police service, for example, will allow UK law enforcement access to antecedent history only.
"A lack of strategic intelligence means that Basic Command Unit commanders are 'blind' to the communities they are policing."
Acpo warned the lack of intelligence even left forces open to infiltration from organised crime gangs who may attempt to join the police force.
The report said: "The risk of not checking antecedent history in the home country makes the UK vulnerable to penetration from organised crime groups from eastern Europe.
"At best, only access to basic criminal convictions can be obtained, with no access to local intelligence databases or national security information."
Cheshire Chief Constable Peter Fahy, a co-author of the paper, said a system of shared intelligence should have been there from the outset.
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Another Ania
Apr 17th, 2008 - 7:06 PM |
Re: Eatern European Crime in UK
NB "Eastern European" is not the same as "Polish". There has been a recent debate on the Guardian pages about lumping all Eastern Europeans together. It's the same as saying Western European's do x amount of crime. A bit of a sweeping generalisation that anyone from Western Europe is a criminal even though crime is more prone among certain groups.
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Another Ania
Apr 17th, 2008 - 8:15 PM |
Re: Eatern European Crime in UK
"The biggest increase was felt in Kent where the number of Poles suspected of crimes surged by over 800 per cent since 2004/5."
Hmm. if there was one Polish related suspected crime reported in 04/05 this would mean 8 have been reported in whatever period this is examining. Depends on how you define "surge" in kent. Unless you have some rough base data for this sort of comment it is meaningless. Yes the number of Poles in Kent has increased, no they do not know how many there are now, no they do not all commit crimes, yes some of them do, do other nationalities commit crimes? - Yes! 800% of what???
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Another Ania
Apr 17th, 2008 - 8:16 PM |
Re: Eatern European Crime in UK
Also note the term "suspected" of crime....this is not the same as "convicted" of crime.
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slepowron
Apr 18th, 2008 - 5:12 AM |
Re: Eastern European Crime in UK
I cringe every time I see “statistics” in the popular press. The method and the process are invariably flawed. I much prefer to be given the raw data; I will interpolate them myself, thank you.
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