The forces of law and order have "lost control of the streets", according to a new report from the independent think-tank Civitas.

The report follows on from government statistics released last week stating that crime levels had dropped by 9% over 2002. However, according to the Civitas report – 'The Failure of Britain's Police' – the think-tank claim that in the face of "staggering volumes of crime", the police and the Home Office are "reduced to ‘bringing crime under control' by legalising or decriminalising many offences on the grounds that they aren't so bad after all".

In a scathing response to the Home Office figures, Civitas instead believe that the police have been "overwhelmed by the sheer volume of crime". And in a general assessment of the nature of crime last century, the think-tank says that in 1931 there were three crimes a year for every police officer – a figure that rose to 44 crimes per officer in 2001.

The organisation also slams the manner in which the Home Office presents crime statistics – chiefly the Home Office claims that the chance of being a crime victim "remains historically low", as according to Civitas, in 1972 there were a total of 1.7 million crimes, and in 2002 there were 5.8 million.

In quantifying the level of crime in the UK, the organisation compares the differing situations in London and New York.

"New York was for many years regarded as a particularly dangerous city, and London as a very safe one, but the trends are now in reverse. In 1991 there were 22,000 robberies in London. In 2002 there were 44,600, an increase of 105 per cent. In 1991 there were 99,000 robberies in New York City. In 2002 there were 27,000, a decrease of 73 per cent. To draw equal with New York's achievement, London would thus have to gain no fewer than 178 percentage points in its fight against street crime."

The report is not limited to the assessment of crime trends, and delivers a damning indictment of the police response to anti-social behaviour and illegal activity.

According to the report: "The police response made matters even worse. They neglected crimes which they chose to define as ‘minor', including drug taking and the intimidation of ordinary people by drunken youths; but, as New York's police discovered, localities in which ‘minor' offences abound quickly become safe havens for serious criminals."

The report suggests that the UK police forces have not made significant inroads into crime due to their failure to implement "pro-active policing strategies".

(GMcG)