IT'S BEING CRUEL TO BE CRUEL

Crime Fighters Point To Disturbing Trend

TWO women and two men set their attack dogs onto an elderly couple -
just for fun.

A teenage boy slams his fist into the hoe of a wheel chair bound woman
as he grabs her handbag.

An elderly couple sit passively by as thugs rob their home, but not
content with their cowering submissiveness, the thugs belt the pair
within inches of their lives.

Later, one of them dies, not as a direct result of her injuries, but
none-the-less, her condition was in no way helped by the bashing she
received.

Society has become more cruel - experts tend to agree, but the public
knows it to be a fact.

Gone are the bad-enough old days when homes were robbed and people
suffered trauma over lost heirlooms.

These days the trauma is usually more physical as what was once a
break and enter is now a home invasion. Simple bag snatches often
become serious assaults now and minor road altercations have, as is
the case here in SA, ended in death as one driver pursues another
until a car plunges off a bridge.

It is not just a local problem, it can be seen in all its horror right
around the country.

Incident after incident takes place with more viciousness than has
been seen ever before.

Official police statistics can be read in many different ways and
indicate generally that crimes such as violent offences have
decreased. And again, property offences have decreased, rape has
decreased, robbery has decreased and even the category of serious
assault has decreased.

But it might be an indication of just how serious criminals have
become when it comes to being overly cruel when doing a crime, if you
take into account that murder and attempted murders have risen.

Logically, it would seem that if someone dies during an attack by a
criminal for whatever reason, that becomes murder and those figures
have risen. The reasons why those who commit crimes have become more
cruel are yet to be fully investigated and scientific or sociological
answers found, but the public knows it is happening, as do experts in
their own fields who have worked with the criminal side of society.

The Director or Public Prosecutions, Mr Paul Rofe, QC, found the
question of why society has become more cruel, a little curly.

In his 20 years of prosecuting, he agrees with the widely-held
community belief, there is more cruelty.

And he believes it has everything to do with drugs and the increased
learning experience of business operators who suddenly found they had
to increase their security measures.

"There has been a shift to the more violent actions due to drug
addiction and associated problems," he said.

"It comes in waves; in my 20 years' prosecuting I never used to see
chemist shop and service station hold-ups."

"Then they started happening more and more, usually drug related, a
need by the criminal to get the money at any cost so there was an
increase in security."

"Those people go for the softer targets out in society, women with
hand-bags, people in their homes."

"There has definitely been a change and along with that a failure to
address the drug problem."

Criminologist Dr Alan Perry, a lecturer in law at Adelaide University
said that statistics do not support an increase in more violent crime,
but there is a public perception because the media highlights such
incidents.

But despite this, he suggests that those committing those offences
would be affected by drugs.

"Drugs make them more violent, frustrated violence through
impatience."

"Fifteen years ago crimes were committed by 'straight' professional
criminals."

"They went about their crimes in a more coherent and calculated
fashion but today criminals can be more disorientated and that can
lead to more violence as they become more desperate to get what they
want."

Assistant Commissioner Rob Lean, who retired a week ago after 40 years
as a police officer, has no doubt there is more cruelty and violence
associated with crime these days.

During his illustrious career he experienced everything from "going to
sleaze-bag places with fleas crawling all over you" to "dinner with
the Governor".

"I think people have become cruel," he said.

"There is a lot more violence towards victims and that is leaving
aside murders which we have had since day dot."

"There is an increasing number of females involved in serious crimes,
home invasions are happening more in recent years, something that
never happened before."

"You have always had break arid enters where the objective was to
steal belongings and sell them off, and that would happen when people
were at work."

"Now criminals are targeting homes while people are there and that
turns violent when someone tries to resist."

Mr Lean suggested television, and the unreal world it portrayed,
played a part in the increase in violence.

"Viewers get this scenario of falsity where they see something on
television where a person gets killed and then the following week they
are back walking around."

"People, through drugs or whatever reason, start to believe that type
of scene really exists in life and develop less regard for people who
are their victims."

"In relation to house breaking, we targeted second-hand dealers so it
became harder for the criminals so they then targeted people where
they could get cash."

"They would attack elderly ladies going to church or the supermarket
who might be carrying jewellery or cash and little old ladies tend to
hang onto their bags and so they would get belted for their trouble."

Mr Lean said drug addicts were the worst to encounter as a
civilian.

"Heroin addicts need to get money and get it regularly," he
said.

"And if people get in their way they will cop a belting."

"We like to think that education and training helps violent people, it
would be nice if we could get them involved in sport or something like
that but I think meeting their victims has an effect."

"The reality is that when they confront someone who has suffered
terribly because of their violent actions and they see the trauma they
have caused and they are no longer under the influence of drugs or
whatever, it sometimes works."

"Then there are the those who are completely anti-social, the hard
ones to crack."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry