“I think the crime trends very often go up and down
depending on what the situation is. If you’ve got a gang of youths that are
going around then obviously certain kinds of crimes may rise or fall depending
on the gang culture involved, and also crimes can actually change in a locality
like Bodmin depending on what the dynamics are, so if you’ve got shops that are
closing, and you’ve got a lot of deprivation, then obviously crimes go up. If
you’ve got something that’s opening and rejuvenation obviously that creates a
better feeling and crimes are going to go down."
On the most common crime:
"Without a doubt, obviously the most common crime is petty
criminal damage, graffiti, mindless vandalism, kicking over bins, pulling off
drainpipes, writing on walls with marker pens – simplistic offences that are
easy to commit, and very difficult to actually investigate."
On August's riots:
"You’ve got a different culture down here, whereas up country
you’ve got quite urban environments, and you’ve got quite densely populated
areas and you’ve not got an awful lot of open area where people can get
involved in stuff and do stuff. Down here we haven’t got a
lot of large housing estates, the ones that we have got are fairly open-planned
and therefore you haven’t got that dense environment where people can’t spread
out, and I think if you’ve got a closed environment, you’re more likely to
get problems because people are actually packed into a smaller area. Because we
haven’t got that down here, that’s one factor that actually assists us. The
other thing is the fact that the actual culture down here is different, because
I think young people don’t necessarily see the problems that there are in an
urban environment. We haven’t got a mix of cultures. We’ve mainly got
predominantly a white background down here, whereas compared to major cities
who have got a much more diverse culture, and I think that’s also part of it as
well."
I can dissect this interview and search for stories. I am already particularly interested in the final point he makes about diverse cultures being responsible for riots.
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