To think criminals are very common?

[ChicJoker]

I see lots of threads on here claiming moral high ground and pearl clutching for example about people not correcting large company’s on a billing mistake. All very tsk tsk tsk “that’s stealing” etc.

it got me thinking, I’m sure it’s dependent on your region but I don’t believe there’s a single person where I’m from that doesn’t either know or have a relation to a criminal in some way. If mums net was a true representation of the public, surely criminals would be shunned from communities and the holier than thou would reign free.

where I’m from, everybody, and I do mean everybody - either knows someone directly or are themselves involved in illegal activity in some way. Even if it was historically. It’s astoundingly common. Anyone who claims otherwise is either lying or incredibly naive.

what are your thoughts? How do the whiter than white cope in life? FWIW there’s absolutely not a chance on this earth I’d correct for example Tesco on sending me a free online shop by mistake. I’d actually find it more morally inferior TO correct them.

A victimless non-hate crime? Hmm. Not buying it.

That is an awful lot of people.

Not asking you to but maybe use your imagination a little.

Maybe just tell us.

Do you live in Liverpool?

@ChicJoker i think if you carried out a random sample (with proper stratification) and got guaranteed full and frank disclosure, then you’re probably not wrong.
Especially if you have a wide interpretation of “crime”.
in particular, in my 20 years of home ownership I have only met one tradesperson who would not accept cash and insisted on providing invoices and even getting me to sign them off…

(edited to add, I realise cash is not a crime, but these guys I do know, and when I look at their supposed turnover and assets/liabilities - it is a complete and pretty audacious fabrication).

So many people commit supposedly petty crime - drug taking/ dealing/supply, smuggling smallish quantities of booze and fags over the channel “for personal use”, I know a couple who are running their vehicles on that agricultural fuel, under-declaring income by tens of thousands…. they isn’t even including the local petty parcel thieves, the casual criminal damage caused by those tools spraying a cross on every mini roundabout …

Where I’m from, very common, and I’d agree that everyone I know, knows a ‘criminal’, including me. It’s not a deprived area (although there are pockets of it), it’s considered an affluent place to live. Also baffles me when I read some posts on here.

Criminals are stupid, that's why they have to resort to crime.

That’s not how statistics work.

According to this thread I am a criminal. I didnt choose to get arrested etc. It was bloody traumatising.

Why does it baffle you that some people live a different kind of life to you?

This inability to believe that lots of us don't mix with known criminals is what I would consider a sheltered life.

more than 1/5 of people of working age have a nominal record with the police: ie, a conviction, caution or arrest.

And that is just the ones who got picked up.

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.

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!

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

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

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.

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 know of criminals and they seem to be generational families.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.