News updates: A focus on the fear
PM attacks the politics of fear and announces crime measuresGordon Brown has set out new measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, as he put the fight against the fear of crime and yobbery at the heart of the general election battle.
The Prime Minister accused the Conservatives of ramping up the fear of crime by "abusing" statistics and spreading the "fiction" that Britain is a broken society.
And he warned that David Cameron's party would "politicise" the police by introducing elections for top officers.
Mr Brown repeated pledges that Labour will protect frontline policing against cuts as the Government seeks to halve the state deficit in four years. He also said he wanted policing to be more "visible", with neighbourhood officers spending 80% of their time on the beat and patrolling singly rather than in pairs.
Speaking to an audience of police officers in Reading, Mr Brown said that he would legislate in the next session if Labour is re-elected to give victims of serious anti-social behaviour a "guarantee of protection".
Citing the case of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her disabled daughter after failing to receive protection against bullies, Mr Brown said that victims should be supported in getting legal injunctions, with the costs paid by the agencies who had let them down.
He confirmed plans for a new non-emergency number to inform police about anti-social behaviour and said that from now there would be an expectation that anyone breaching an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) will be prosecuted, and that the parents of those under 16 would also face action.
New Film: The Fear Factory
A new film has been launched, which looks at the problems surrounding the fear of crime and criticises the so-called "arms race" on law and order issues between political parties. Watch the trailer here.
New Economics Foundation: Young criminals 'cost £140,000'
Jailing one young criminal costs the taxpayer as much as £140,000 a year, a report has said.
Locking up young offenders also makes them more likely to commit further crimes and be unemployed later in life, the New Economics Foundation said.
The think-tank called for drastic cuts in the use of youth custody.
Budgets for youth custody should be given to councils and the money reinvested in rehabilitation programmes, the report said.
Last month there were 2,195 children aged 10 to 17-year-olds imprisoned in England and Wales.
Each place costs £100,000 a year and an extra £40,000 in indirect costs to society once the inmate is released.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "Latest figures show there are 20% fewer first time young offenders under 18 years of age than a year ago and the frequency of youth re-offending has fallen by nearly a quarter since 2000."
Chris Huhne: Tough on Crime? Jail is not the answer
Chris Huhne, a contributor to the Stand Up Tall Project, writes that locking up more people is a populist ploy that doesn't cut crime, and that we should focus on rigorous community sentences instead. Read the full article here.
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