Tory 'anarchy' comment criticised

David Cameron highlighted gun and knife crime

A top police officer has criticised Conservative leader David Cameron's description of "anarchy" in the UK.

Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) president Ken Jones told BBC News violent crime was "at the lowest it has been since the mid-1990s".

He said political leaders should be more "calm, measured and objective" in their statements about crime.

Mr Cameron had said families should be "strengthened" to help fight crimes, such as the killing of Rhys Jones, 11.

The Tory leader highlighted gun and knife crimes in a speech criticising the government over social breakdown.

'Figures distorted'

But Mr Jones told BBC Radio 4's Today programme people in the UK faced the lowest risk of being a victim of crime "for over a quarter of a century".

People are distorting the figures for their own ends Acpo president Ken Jones

He said he was therefore "baffled" by comments relating to high crime levels.

"You talk about the London murder rate and it's a real problem, but if you look at similar cities in the US it's about five times lower.

"People are distorting the figures for their own ends and I think we need to try and rebuild trust.

"It isn't a deliberate attempt to go out and distort. It is a lack of trust in the data."

Mr Jones said the "vast majority" of people lived in "security-confident communities".

"There is a minority which don't and it is those that need our leadership, and they need people in leadership positions in politics, government and the media to actually show some leadership and be more calm and measured and objective over this," he added.

'Serious breakdown'

Mr Cameron has stood by his comments and denied he was "scare-mongering".

He said the killing of 17 teenagers in London this year illustrated the "very serious breakdown of order in some of our communities".

The Conservatives have said "long-term generational change" is needed to fight crime - not a "knee-jerk" response.

Mr Cameron has also called for violent video games to be curbed, parents urged to be more responsible, and schools to be reformed.

The vast majority of people just simply do not want to uproot their families and spend the rest of their lives living in fear of reprisals Criminologist Robert Ralphs

Robert Ralphs, a criminologist at Manchester University, told the Today programme that "a lack of trust" in the police's ability to protect people prevented some from coming forward as witnesses to serious crime.

He said there was "a culture of non-cooperation with police in inner-city areas".

He added that "the vast majority of people just simply do not want to uproot their families and spend the rest of their lives living in fear of reprisals".

On Friday police arrested a further four people on suspicion of murdering 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool.

Eleven teenagers have previously been questioned about the shooting. Seven have been released on bail and four have been released without charge.