British Public Expects Big Brother Crime Fighting Techniques In The 21st Century

An astonishing MORI survey, carried out on behalf of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA), has revealed that the British public expects the fight against crime in the 21st Century to go much further than ever before in using the latest technological advances. The survey shows that fully 75% of the population expect that DNA records will be held by the police on every person in Britain before the end of the next century.

The survey also shows that 59 % of the population expect that microchips will be implanted in criminals to track their movements, and the same percentage expect there to be universal face recognition by CCTV security cameras. These expectations come on top of findings that a majority of the population, 54%, expect Britain to be a less safe place to live in the next century compared with today. This is over three times the proportion, 16%, who think it will be more safe.

These figures will shock crime experts and civil liberties campaigners who, up until now, have felt that the British public is not ready for such invasive crime fighting techniques. But they also show how frustrated the public is of being victims of crime and how far they may be prepared to allow the government to go to combat it.

The survey has been commissioned by the NNWA in the run up to the 1999 CGU Insurance National Neighbourhood Watch Conference, entitled "Building a Safer Britain", which will be examining how Neighbourhood Watch can be involved in the fight against crime in the 21st Century. The same survey also found that 36% of the population want to see the police working with Neighbourhood Watch to prevent crime.

Sue Yoxall MBE, Chief Executive of the NNWA said, "This survey shows just how fed up the British public is with being the victims of crime and how prepared they are to contemplate some very radical measures in the fight to reduce crime in the next century."

"The NNWA does not necessarily endorse all of these ideas, but we do think it is very important that we open up a public debate about them. Many people get involved with Neighbourhood Watch because they have themselves been victims of crime. They have had enough and have decided to stand up and do something about it."

Other findings of the survey have confirmed public support for the Government's partnership approach set out in the Crime & Disorder Act, with 55% of those questioned wanting to see local councils working with the police to prevent crime in the 21st century.

The survey found that 65% of those questioned thought that child abuse should be a priority for government action on crime in the first ten years of the next century, followed by 51% wanting drug misuse to be a priority.

The Home Secretary, Jack Straw MP, will be addressing the conference, to be held in Westminster on Saturday 20 November, and will have the chance to respond on behalf of the Government to these findings.

Technical details

The figures quoted above are taken from a MORI survey entitled "Community Safety in the 21st Century". The survey questioned a nationally representative sample of 2015 adults aged 15+ in Great Britain by face-to-face interviews between 8-12 October 1999.