Why is crime so high in England?

[TitoFan]

Forget stats for a minute. Most violent crime is toward a targeted victim. You use an ATM at night in a shady neighborhood... you're asking for trouble. You start an argument in a bar known for belligerent drunks... ditto. So while much of this crime is unavoidable, many victims could've probably taken steps to avoid the incident.

But what about the phenomenon of the shooting spree? What about the poor bastard who happened to be at the shopping mall at precisely the time when Joe Blow... recently fired from his job... appeared with part of his basement arms cache, and decided to take out his frustrations on humanity? What about the poor bastards in Maryland who were picked off one by one, over the course of several weeks, by some bored sniper in a van with his son?

Crime per capita may or may not be higher in England than in the U.S. Times are tough... and crime is high in most densely populated areas of the world. Personally, I'd rather live in a place where I can lessen (not eliminate) the chances of being a victim by following some common sense rules.... than live some place where I can be a victim just because some fucking Rambo snapped, and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Conrad]

As already said comparing certain statistics is pointless as our definition of 'violent crime' may differ. The only statistic that can't be interpreted differently is murder, and we all know who's worse off there!

I was in Bogota in 2007 and in the reception of the hostel I was staying at was a US newspaper article pinned to the wall. At that time the US government strictly advised US citizens visiting Bogata or Colombia due to the high murder rate. Yet next to the article was United Nations report detailing which capital cities had the highest murder rate per capita.

I can't remember the exact figures, but the owner of the hostel highlighted Washington DC on the list and Bogota on the list.

The rate per capita in Washington was way higher than Bogota

[VictorCharlie]

My stats were from a UN research council that set their own definition to compare/contrast.

[Dia bando]

Crime what's the answers, is it poverty , easy money or are they are just bad bastards, I feel no Country has the monopoly on violent crime,it's a problem everybody seem,s to have, do you beat
it by zero tolerance Policing, lock people up for a long time.!
You can look at problem's simple, but I don't think there is no easy fix, what would you try and do.!