Bill Bratton’s Approach Provides Ammunition for Tories and Labour Alike

It’s always worse elsewhere. That, at any rate, is one conclusion to be drawn from this question:

This is consistent with polls that find twice as many people think crime is “Top Three” problem for the country as a whole than consider it a major problem for their own family. Doubtless there are many reasons for this discrepancy, among them the way in which crime is reported by a breathless, always-indigant media. Nevertheless, perceptions matter in life as in politics and cannot be wished or even, sometimes, persuaded away. 

One aggravating aspect of all this post-riot contemplation is the way in which the violence has been taken as proof that my long-held theories, pet projects and favoured hobbyhorses have been the correct, indeed the only sane, theories, projects and hobbyhorses to hold, pursue and favour. And yet, as Fraser has argued persuasively, there’s much we simply do not know.

In fact, most commentators and politicians have a point even if none have the whole answer.