To think criminals are very common?

Really depends on your demographic. In the USA, 1 in 5 black males and 1 in 25 white males has been in prison. So in the former group, you would definitely know someone. In the latter, maybe not.

(corresponding figure is 1 in 200 white American women have been in prison. We should wonder a bit more about why men are like this … )

I grew up somewhere rough and yeah it was a bit of an in joke. You knew who was at it people would come to local pub offering stolen stuff. Everyone bought their fags from a bloke who’d take orders.

I live somewhere naice now and I suspect the criminals would be white collar.

I tend to agree. I have three people in my own family who’ve been involved in criminal activity in the past (and wouldn’t think twice about doing the same in the future)
Two of them have got away with it so far, another was in court years ago but got a fine.

Another person I know has done community service and been in prison in the past and continues to break the law yet she’s surrounded by friends who don’t seem to hold anything against her.

I’ve always found ‘pearl-clutching’, as you so patronisingly say, to be a mighty good mechanism for self-protection.

I would steer well-clear of criminals if I knew them to be criminals- if you get involved in violence, theft or fraud why the hell would I want you in my life?

I’ll keep on clutching, thanks.

Depends on the circles you move in! Some people will know only crims.

I can’t say I know any. If they admitted theywere criminals they wouldn’t be my friends.

Do you count tradies who don’t pay their taxes and always want cash? I’ve had a couple of those and always roll my eyes when they expect me to agree that ‘we don’t want the taxman to get it!’ Don’t we? I do. As a wage-slave I always had to pay my taxes.

I agree OP, I think MN posters appear to be massively naive about life in that respect (I suspect it’s more that only certain posters contribute to those threads and get carried away in their horror and pearl clutching though, so it seems overwhelmingly naive)

its not even about who you know or your circle- I went to a normal state (catholic) school and have 3 friends from my year who ended up doing stints in prison (drug dealing, football hooliganism) and a house mate from university who did (stealing from employer). I haven’t seen these people for 20/30 years but they are still connections.

in a long career I have also managed people
who have been in trouble with the police or government.

go to any high street at kicking out time and you’ll see fights (and I can predict where MN pearl clutches think I’ve lived to say that- but it won’t be Fulham, Putney, Cambridge, hitchin, which is where I have an seen pub fights a plenty)

also I find it strange people seem so gobsmacked by thinks like tax evasion which i also think is fairly common.

@ForgetMeNotRose:

Littering applies to anything you "throw down, drop, or otherwise deposit, and then leave" in any open-air public place, including private land and land covered by water.

Failing to Clean Up After a Dog: The act of allowing a dog to foul a public path without cleaning it up is an offence.

Flashing your headlights to give way

Parking on the wrong side of the road at night

Using the horn between 11.30pm and 7am in a built up area for any reason other than to warn oncoming drivers of immediate danger. Wish someone would tell minicab drivers and impatient husbands!

Swearing or gesturing at other motorists - even if you're trying to be helpful, the other driver could be offended which would make it a crime. Or you could be deemed 'not in full control of your vehicle' while waving.

Cycling on pavements. Mumsnetters might be innocent of this, but I suspect they aren't all telling their teenagers!

Being drunk on a street or in a public place.

Stealing two bananas because the self checkout is a stupid machine 😳

I like this idea. Here are some crimes you might recognise if you're as old as me.
Loitering with intent to use a pedestrian crossing.
Walking on the cracks in the pavement.
Walking in a loud shirt in a built up area during the hours of darkness.

You've now made me wonder if we're all just walking around committing small crimes all the time, perhaps not even considering that they're crimes. I wonder what the most commonly and easily broken law is? I mean harmless ones you might not even know are crimes. Maybe that one about taxis having to have a bail of hay in the boot?

This thread's the only thing to have made me think "I haven't broken any laws since before the pandemic! Must be time to push a boundary ..."

eta: Oh. Yes, I have. Last week! I let the self-checkout think I had 5 bananas when there were 7 😂 It should've weighed them, not defaulted to 5. Stupid machine.

I’m genuinely shocked that the percentage of people with a criminal record is so high - I’d have guessed 2 or 3%.

I probably have met a lot of people who have in their life committed some low left theft / tax fraud (I don’t know this, I’m guessing given it seems prevalent in small businesses / trades etc) but I genuinely wouldn’t have a clue where to find drugs even if I wanted to - as far as I’m aware I don’t know anyone that does them - and I don’t know anyone to my knowledge who has ever been violent.

As far as I’m aware I don’t know anyone with a criminal record.

I do too, OP. I used to think it was my background that was giving confirmation bias, but as I've got older, I've realised that isnt the case at all. It's just crimes committed by the middle and upper classes are less risky and more palatable to the masses.

I work for a large company in a senior legal role and as a result have access to all senior employee criminal records via their DBS reports.

You would be astounded at the number of people with records and the types of offences.

Lots of these people are in senior roles on very good salaries c150k+ and in many cases would not be the type of people you would for one minute believe have a criminal record.

There are a range of offences including robbery, domestic violence (men and women), drugs, theft etc. Quite often these occurred decades ago.

To those people claiming they don’t know anyone with a criminal record, I can assure you that you almost certainly do but they just don’t tell you.

It’s also 1 in 3 in the US. https://www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/criminal-records-and-reentry-toolkit

my sibling is in prison. I know of a few people I went to school with who have been in prison. And their kids. Imo it’s largely about where you grew up and the social demographics of that location and whether you are still connected to the people there.

Yeah but not to extent I was arrested and handcuffed etc. Treated like I was carrying something way bigger. I am a woman in my 40s not a teen gangster.
I have been picked up since with the same item and was not arrested.

Yeah, I definitely need to get to know a few more drug dealers, thieves and peados to have a fun life.

I know of criminals and they seem to be generational families.

Is that not just like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon though? If you go through enough of your contacts then your sister in laws, nans, friends, son in law might be a drug dealer but honestly i live in a big city and I think I would need to go through the six degrees to get there, which seems a bit tenuous.

I’m very sorry for what you went through,

The blade you describe is not a regular thing for a person to carry around and anyone conducting a search might be a bit “WTF” at that.

@MasterBethyeah perhaps I do live a sheltered life then! Bet it’s more fun than yours though 🤣

I'm sorry to hear about that. It sounds traumatic and awful.

I think the word criminal is a bit harsh, but people who break the law or don't always do the moral thing, well, were all like that when it suits us.

My DB does cash tradie jobs. Claims his leisure vehicles as business equipment. Another friend claimed all their household purchases against their business.

My friend was micro dosing with illegal drugs.

I've realised I've been undercharged at the supermarket & no way I was going back!

My boss charges max fees for his professional service, then uses untrained, unqualified staff to manage client's accounts.

My 84 year old DF has an illegally modified ebike. Bought without realising but he loves it!

I could go on. Something for everyone. Everybody has flexible morals when it suits them!

Swann Morton 11. All wrapped up and in my handbag. I am a self harmer. Was picked up as a welfare concern for mental health and then arrested and cautioned for having a bladed article on me. Treated like a gangster teen with a zombie knife.
I was denied an appropriate adult and had a meltdown in custody. Had no idea what was going on. Have since been told it should have never have happened. Look up a Swann Morton blade. They are tiny. And mine was in a sterile wrapper.

Not a hate crime and the real victim was me. Has made me lose any faith in he police. As an autistic person, this is a thing I hear a lot with my peers.