Letter: Still the crime capital

IS CRIME in Britain really higher than in the US (News, 11 October)? The International Herald Tribune reported on 4 August:

"So far this year, there have been charges of falsely reporting crime statistics in New York, in Atlanta and in Boca Raton, Florida. The charges have resulted in the resignation or demotion of high-ranking police commanders.

"In Boca Raton a police captain, acting with the knowledge of the chief of police, systematically downgraded property crimes like burglaries to vandalism, trespassing or missing property, reducing the city's felony rate by almost 11 per cent.

"Daniel Castro, a captain who had an excellent reputation for introducing community policing and aggressively eliminating drug dealers from the streets of West Philadelphia had reported an 80 per cent drop in serious crime in his district over the last year. But a review found that he had downgraded many robberies, burglaries and thefts to cases of 'missing property'."

HUGH ROBERTSON

Perth, Scotland