PRESS RELEASE

Strictly embargoed to 00.01 hrs Wednesday 9 Dec 2009

Indifference towards witnesses

is letting muggers off scot free

Fifty-five percent of university students believe that if they were mugged on a

busy street none of the witnesses would give the police a statement,
according to new research out today (9 December). The belief that everybody
would walk-on-by is held by substantially more women students (61%) than
men (48%).

Witness Confident, the charity which commissioned the research, says the
students’ fears chime with Home Office figures that nine out of ten muggers
got away scot free last year1. The charity maintains that with a 14% drop2 this
year in the number of convictions and cautions for robbery and violent crime,
a different approach is urgently needed if we are to curb street violence.

Guy Dehn, Witness Confident’s director, says “Public policy must now
recognise that witnesses – unlike victims of crime or consumers making
complaints – have no immediate stake in the outcome. For them, the trials of
call centres, surly officials, poor information and endless delays are not storms
to be weathered but reasons to stay at home.”

In its report Public policy, the perils of indifference and street violence,
Witness Confident says the police and the courts should give much more
encouragement and backing to people who take a stand against street crime.
The charity is campaigning for
• a 60 minute target for the time witnesses should have to spend to give

1
British Crime Survey 2008/9 – cited on page 3 of the attached report
2
Criminal Justice System Performance Information 29 Nov 2009, cited on page 2 of the report
 a statement;
• the use of handycams to record witness statements at the scene that
can be used in court;
• online tools to put witnesses in direct contact with the right officer; and
• publication of data showing it is not a waste of time to be a witness.

The charity’s confidence that these steps will make a real difference is backed
by the research. University students – the opinion formers of the next
generation - say it is ‘the time it all takes’ that most deters people from being
a witness. Significantly, more students rate making a formal written
statement as a key deterrent than those who cite dislike or distrust of the
police.

The charity argues that backing witnesses is the best chance the country now
has if we are to turn the tables on street violence. It points out that since
1997 there has been a 13% increase in the numbers of police officers, a 66%
increase in the numbers of prisoners and that the law & order budget has
doubled to £33.9 billion3. “Yet after all these measures, all this money, the
DNA database and 1.5 million CCTV cameras,“ says Mr. Dehn “we have more
stranger attacks and muggings - the key driver of public anxiety about crime –
than before”.

Contacts
Guy Dehn 07779 489377 / 020 8442 4251
Anna Myers 07897 936462 / 020 7226 0968

Notes to Editor
• The report and data is available at www.witnessconfident.org/research
• The research was carried out by Opinionpanel Research this summer.
• Witness Confident is a registered charity and legal advice centre. It
launched on 9/9/9 and is campaigning against the walk-on-by culture
that fuels street violence, feeds fear and fractures communities.
• It is funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Allen Lane Foundation and

3
The sources for the data in this paragraph are cited on page 2 of the report
private supporters including Rufus Leonard.