Crimewatch host attacks government

Crimewatch has helped solve numerous high-profile cases

BBC Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross has fiercely attacked the government's stance on crime.

Mr Ross dismissed the government's slogans on crime as "meaningless garbage" and said the justice system favoured criminals.

Speaking in an interview with the Observer, the 53-year-old presenter said the government lacked an overarching strategy and was guilty of "knee-jerk reactions".

We are deeply anti-intelligent in the way we deal with crime in this country

Nick Ross

He said Britain's police forces were incapable of carrying out basic tasks.

"We are deeply anti-intelligent in the way we deal with crime in this country," he told the newspaper.

"We respond with kneejerk reactions: we don't have a war against crime - we have isolated skirmishes.

"Can you imagine any major international organisation trying to overhaul itself without a great strategy? Of course not.

Crime prevention

"But where is our great strategy with crime? It's all rhetoric. 'Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime'? It's meaningless garbage."

Ross, who fronted Crimewatch with Jill Dando before her murder, said the show did not address crime prevention.

"It's part of the approach in this country where we try to close the door after the crime has taken place," he said.

Most politicians just don't get it ... it just takes someone with imagination and balls

Nick Ross

"The entire discussion about crime reduction is flawed because whenever anyone in power talks about solving crime, what they actually mean is the aftermath."

He said it would take a brave government to outline specific targets for crime fighting.

"It would take an incredibly brave home secretary to say this government is going to achieve specific targets when the electorate has no expectation that the government could ever achieve that," he said.

"Most politicians just don't get it. But it's really not rocket science - it just takes someone with imagination and balls."

Criminal justice

He attacked the government, claiming it did not believe it could tackle crime, and said it would not set itself targets it could not reach for fear the electorate would lose faith.

The criminal justice system also came in for criticism with Ross saying it was aptly named because: "It's all about justice for the criminal and none for society."

The failure of the courts resulted from police who could not fulfil even the most basic tasks, he told the Observer.

"The criminal justice system doesn't even require the police to do basic things, like keep their statistics in a useful way that would help in building up a realistic picture of crime across the country," he said.

"To beat crime we need to get clear scientific evidence we can use in a straightforward, engineered approach."