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Crime Solicitors

Home Secretary launches modern crime prevention strategy (25 March 2016)

Date: 25/03/2016
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, Home Secretary launches modern crime prevention strategy

Home Secretary Theresa May has launched the government’s modern crime prevention strategy at the International Crime and Policing Conference 2016.

Speaking at the conference on Wednesday (23/03/16), Theresa May said that, even though crime had fallen in the UK and in many other countries over the last 20 years, the threat was changing and crime rates were “still too high”.

Mrs May went on to talk about the rise in cyber crime – which she said can “wreak havoc in other people’s lives”, with criminals subverting security measures to “unscrupulously gain the trust of their victims”.

“But unlike burglary, vehicle crime or street theft, the criminals who commit these crimes do not have to meet their victims or physically enter their homes,” she told delegates.

“They break in using a keyboard, often while sitting in their back room or their bedroom hundreds and thousands of miles away – sometimes in another criminal jurisdiction entirely.

“And instead of creating a single victim, they can create thousands, some of whom do not realise what is missing for weeks or months.”

The Home Secretary told the conference that, in just one case last year, a teenager hacked 50,000 individual computers and corrupted 1,400 servers with malware – and stole emails, personal data and credit card details which were used to make purchases online.

She added that a money-laundering scheme was established to fund a trip to Mexico – and a family in the US was targeted, harassed and threatened as a result.

“This then is the reality of a great deal of crime today,” said the Home Secretary. “Faceless, contactless and conducted from a distance.

“It is changing the nature of victimhood, changing the nature of crime, and changing the nature of police investigations – and if we are to keep pace, if we are to stop these crimes, our response to crime prevention must change, too.”

The Home Secretary told delegates that, since she became Home Secretary in 2010, overall crime in England and Wales had fallen by more than a quarter, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, compiled by the Office for National Statistics.

Figures show that burglary offences are down by 21%, car theft is down by 26% – and violent crime is down by 25%. However, Mrs May added that more people are coming forward to report crimes such as child sexual abuse, domestic abuse and modern slavery.

Mrs May said that action would be taken to address the different drivers of crime – including building government reforms to the Licensing Act 2003, to ensure licensing authorities have the necessary powers and information to prevent alcohol crime and disorder – as well as tackling legal highs via the Psychoactive Substances Act.

New measures will also tackle knife crime by working with retailers – and the government is to introduce the new Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Action Plan to prevent criminals transferring the proceeds of crime into legitimate income, in an attempt to deter criminals from criminal activities.

The government is also expanding the Troubled Families Programme, which helps families where there are “difficult, entrenched and multiple problems” –
as well as extending funding to the National Citizen Service, so that 60% of all 16- and 17-year-olds are given the chance to take part.

Duncan Lewis Criminal Lawyers

Duncan Lewis criminal lawyers are available 24/7, 365 days a year to advise at any stage of a criminal charge, including cyber crime, organised crime, violent crime, or sexual offences.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide – and our criminal defence lawyers regularly visit police stations, courts and prisons to advise on criminal charges, including attending youth courts and visiting youth offender institutions.

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of Legal Aid criminal defence lawyers and a member of the team can usually reach a police station for interview under caution within an hour.

For expert legal advice on all criminal charges, call Duncan Lewis criminal lawyers on 0333 772 0409.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.


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