Tony Blair promised to be 'tough on crime' but crime is soaring under Labour.
* A crime is committed every 5 seconds (Based on Metropolitan Police Snapshot Survey, 13 June 2002).
* Only 6% of crimes result in a conviction (Route to Justice, Audit Commission Report, June 2002).
* Over half of prisoners re-offend within two years of release (Prison Statistics 2000).
The 'conveyor belt to crime' is the vicious cycle that young people are being drawn into; it leads to ever-more serious crimes and the use of drugs. To tackle Britain's crime crisis, Conservatives want to see better crime
prevention and to put police back in charge of our streets and neighbourhoods. We will get children off the conveyor belt to crime and introduce effective measures to end Britain's drug culture.
Conservative Crime-Fighting Objectives
1. Put police back on the streets -
Conservatives will act to get children and young people off the conveyor belt by getting police officers back on to the street so that young people are afraid of being caught.
2. Cut Crime at its roots -
Conservatives will offer help to parents to bring up their children as responsible citizens and stop vulnerable children being drawn into crime.
3. Tackle persistent offenders -
Conservatives will bring in longer sentences for persistent young offenders with effective rehabilitation programmes to help them back into society.
4. Restore confidence in the justice system -
Conservatives will make the criminal justice system more efficient and effective.
5. Target heroin and cocaine users -
Conservatives will massively increase treatment facilities and compel all young heroin and cocaine addicts to go into treatment.