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| Britain |
| 'Safe rooms' instead of cash for crime victims |
| 2005-12-08 |
| People repeatedly terrorised by intruders could have "safe rooms" fitted in their homes at taxpayers' expense in an overhaul of the help given to the victims of crime. At least 20,000 people a year will lose cash payouts and instead be offered practical assistance to recover from the experience. Victims of violent attacks could be offered cosmetic surgery, dental treatment or therapy, including counselling for post-traumatic stress, or issued with personal attack alarms. or a GLOCK Model 22C if now residing in the States. Householders who are burgled could be given help in fitting alarms and more robust locks. In the most serious cases, "safe rooms" with reinforced walls and ultra-secure locks could be installed in victims' homes. Fiona Mactaggart, the Home Office minister, said the rooms could be built if "someone was being a repeat victim of violent crime". Under the Home Office proposals, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority would be reformed to ensure more of its £200m annual budget was targeted on the most seriously injured. The current £500,000 cap on compensation, heavily criticised in the wake of the London bombings in July which killed 52 commuters, will be swept away. But the new higher payments are unlikely to be introduced until 2007 - and will not be paid retroactively. Ms Mactaggart said more than half of the 40,000 people who currently get compensation cheques from the scheme each year will in future be given practical help. With only half of compensation orders handed out by the courts being paid, she said ministers were determined to make more criminals pay out to their victims. She said: "We need to ensure that victims receive the support that they need when they need it." It was also taking too long to get the money to victims, with average pay-out times being 39 weeks, she added. The Home Office is also considering ending payments to people injured by violent crime at work, and to police and other public servants injured on duty. "We, as a government, are prepared to consider the Dame Helen Reeves, the chief executive of Victim Support, said: "We believe that even a small payment of state compensation is an important gesture of recognition and solidarity for the distress and suffering caused by a violent crime. An even larger and more effective "gesture" would be apprehending and hanging the perpetrator! "We welcome the wish to speed up and simplify the compensation system, but in an ideal world there would be well-resourced services alongside an effective and equally well-resourced compensation system." ....run by a well-bureaucratized and ineffecient governmental scheme. Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "The Government talks a lot about placing victims at the heart of our justice system. But these reforms could mean many victims receive no compensation at all. "It is to be welcomed that the upper limit on awards for criminal injuries is to be removed People repeatedly terrorised by intruders could have "safe rooms" fitted in their homes at taxpayers' expense in an overhaul of the help given to the victims of crime. At least 20,000 people a year will lose cash payouts and instead be offered practical assistance to recover from the experience. Victims of violent attacks could be offered cosmetic surgery, dental treatment or therapy, including counselling for post-traumatic stress, or issued with personal attack alarms. Householders who are burgled could be given help in fitting alarms and more robust locks, Lovely, a private bedroom for an abusive spouse constructed at government expense, how novel. Dame Helen Reeves, the chief executive of Victim Support, said: "We believe that even a small payment of state compensation is an important gesture of recognition and solidarity for the distress and suffering caused by a violent crime. "We welcome the wish to Mark Oaten, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "The Government talks a lot about placing victims at the heart of our justice system. But these reforms could mean many victims receive no compensation at all. "It is to be welcomed that the upper limit on awards for criminal injuries is to be removed. But it is still vital that victims of less serious crimes receive compensation and proper recognition." What a bunch of liberal rubbish! |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #4 He or she would offer to buy me a cup of coffee or dinner or would want to party with me. They wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Just proving that anyone who gives a cheery hello to a stranger deserves to die. And sounds like those rape victims really did deserve it, right moose? |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-12-08 23:49 |
| #3 I wonder if this was dreamed up by the same genius who invented the barbed condom a few days ago. A pissed off burglar will simply light a fire and leave. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2005-12-08 22:38 |
| #2 Hey what a novel way to fight crime! Lock up the victims!! Now exactly how big and well equipped are these "safe" rooms? How often and for how long are the potential victims supposed to be in residence in their own personal jail cell? Or are they supposed to ask the intruder to wait while they go lock themselves away? This is really disgusting. If it wasn't real I'd expect some one of ripping off Monty Python....Run away, Run away!! Now that Canada is banning all hand guns for the law abiding, how long before this is there approach to crime prevention? Glock, Sig, S&W, CZ, Browning, Ruger, etc. so many choices, so much cheaper, so much more liberty. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2005-12-08 20:58 |
| #1 I keep in mind a fascinating psychological study done by the FBI at least 10 years ago. Interviews with serial killers in how they chose their victims found out that in a good number of the cases, the victims actually sought out their killer. One killer, who had himself noticed the phenomena, and was puzzled by it, said that he would have arrived in a new city, where he had never been before. He was hungry and tired and just wanted to get a bite to eat and find a motel to sleep in. "But somebody I had never seen before would see me, and come running across four busy lanes of traffic to get in my face. He or she would offer to buy me a cup of coffee or dinner or would want to party with me. They wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. I had no idea who this person was, and just wanted to be left alone, but they would keep nattering away at me." He concluded by saying that, "It was a positive relief to kill them." As part of the study, the FBI also studied violent rape, and found out that statistically, women who had been sexually molested or assaulted when they were young had a 220% higher likelyhood of being sexually attacked again when they are adults. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-12-08 17:55 |