The best of England's new "Let's Keep Crime Down" campaign
By Ryan Block 
posted November 9th 2005 10:20AM
posted November 9th 2005 10:20AM
Engadget editors, for instance.
So the Home Office crime prevention department in the UK just launched this three-year "Let's Keep Crime Down"
campaign with a specific bend on consumer electronics and portables to, um, help reduce crime. So without further ado,
may we present our picks for the best of "Let's Keep Crime Down"...
[Thanks, Adrian]
Wonder which phone they used for this ad?
How’d they get a picture of Engadget HQ?
I live in Brighton (a pretty big city in the uk) and I wasnt aware this was a problem atall. I always hold my ipod out and my phone, so does everyone else. I think the only time it is stolen is when you accidently leave it in a restaurant or something like that (wouldn't it anywhere?), I dont think it would be grabbed out your hands, never happened to anyone I know. But im sure places like london this is a problem, i wouldnt do that in london.
Very nice advertising campaign, i like it! The last 2 are my favorite's.
HAHA some of these are preety funny... very clever
thanks to my mom i learned long ago not to play with it in public. good to know someone is out there teaching the rest of you.
So this is what crime prevention in the UK has come to? If you've got nothing worth stealing then you're safe from crime? Why not just post an ad from Scotland Yard saying "You're on your own. We have bigger things to worry about"?
That thing that you spent all that money on because it's so useful? Yeah, don't go 'round _using_ it.
Is their ad campaign basically saying "Don't use anything you own in public"? Is that their solution? No offense, but I'm not buying a mobile phone to use it in my living room. I'm buying it to use it WHEN I'M MOBILE. Silly boys. Likewise the mp3 player - the whole point of it is to be able to bring it with you. I have one for my living room, it's called my computer.
yeah these are effectively just things like:
"wearing expensive clothes will make muggers think you're rich!"
"ferrari's will be stolen, a rusty Escort won't be!"
Would be nice to know that the police would be interested when we're mugged rather than them going "you listend to an ipod in public? Serves you right!"
Please tell me, how do you use your mobile, if you don't want to show it in the public?
And how do you hide the headphones of your iPod?
If you fear that stuff gets stolen, just don't buy it.
i think every city needs huge posters that say "don't play with it in public"
that's frickin hilarious
I really love the ads aimed at students "Hiya! If you fancy a free TV and a CD player, get down to the scruffy student house at Kepple Road." They seem to have failed to advertise the number of traffic cones and cans of Tennants that could be scored as well.
I love the slogan in the corner "Keep it safe. Keep it hidden." You can almost hear it come out of Gandalf's mouth. It's "My Precious".
Hahahaha! I have to agree, don't play with it in public is the funniest thing I've ever seen!
I loved the comment "Howd they get a pic of Engadget HQ?"
Made me smile.
On another note. That dude is using his MP3 player, hmm, I guess there are two solutions.
1) use a shuffle, it doesn't have a screen anyway so you dont need to whip it out.
2) get a remote control with a screen on it like the walkmans do. (better they steal that than the whole thing)
My girlfriend STUPIDLY left her bag on the side of the underground with 500 pounds, her passport, and her Laptop, and it was stolen.
(serves her right though, she was supposed to be in Japan at the time *sighs*)
I saw the one that says "don't advertise your MP3" this morning, and I had this image of standing on a street corner holding up a sign saying "I have suludance.mp3 and you don't!"
Now, now advertising my MP3 *player*, I can understand...
"I live in Brighton (a pretty big city in the uk) and I wasnt aware this was a problem atall. I always hold my ipod out and my phone, so does everyone else. I think the only time it is stolen is when you accidently leave it in a restaurant or something like that (wouldn't it anywhere?), I dont think it would be grabbed out your hands, never happened to anyone I know. But im sure places like london this is a problem, i wouldnt do that in london."(Posted Nov 9, 2005, 10:34 AM ET by TheWakeUpCall)
Okay, well here in real people world, we have public annoyances called chavs. Chavs range in siz from 3-7ft tall and categorise muggers and anyone driving a badly modified car with neon lighting and NOS stickers plastered all over it. These people are willing to swap a switchblade in your gut for your new V3x so make sure you don't walk around with your belongings out, your life is, i presume, worth more than that.
Even as an Englishman I feel it my duty to point out the separations.
England, Wales and Scotland make up (Great) Britain. Great Britain and Northern Ireland make up the United Kingdom (hence its full name 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
The British Isles is the United Kingdom and also the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Ireland.
Classifying Scotland, Wales and/or Northern Ireland under England will get unhappy responses. Likewise with classifying Great Britain or United Kingdom under England. Classifying Ireland under anything other than Ireland is likely to cause offence (even if using the correct terminology of 'British Isles'). If you want to be safe, (Great) Britain or United Kingdom are better collective names to use.
But in summary, the other principalities hate England and this wrong use of names isn't helping the situation.
We have a similar ad campaign in NYC, specifically in the subway, but it's more an extension of the of the old "keep your purse zipped and keep the thieves out" campaign than anything new. But they have ads about portable music players now too.
The wording on these ads is a little odd, though... I mean yeah, thanks, here I was thinking it was totally cool to show my phone to thieves. I guess now I know better. I'll be sure to only show it to non-thieves from now on. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'll also make sure I only tell non-burglars that my apartment exists. That should keep the riff-raff out.
"Okay, well here in real people world, we have public annoyances called chavs. Chavs range in siz from 3-7ft tall and categorise muggers and anyone driving a badly modified car with neon lighting and NOS stickers plastered all over it. These people are willing to swap a switchblade in your gut for your new V3x so make sure you don't walk around with your belongings out, your life is, i presume, worth more than that."
Yes, my life is worth more than that. But frankly, I don't consider that theirs is. So somebody trying to rob me or somebody near me will also have to deal with a bullet punching a hole through their chest, because I walk around armed. Just like all good citizens should.
Oh wait, guns are banned in the UK, right? Sorry, I guess it sucks to be you, dude.
I'm with callused - comment number 17. Let's refer to the US as South Canada until our collonial bretheren bother to pick up an atlas and study for Basic Geography 101.
IS IT SO HARD, SOUTH CANADA? Honestly...
I did laugh like a drain at the olives though =)
i believe this campainge (sp?) is also taking place in wales, scotland and northern island, aswell as old england. The U.K
bl00dyanks!
the t.v adverts are quite good really, but the ads for piracy suck both in the cinema and billboard ads.
" So somebody trying to rob me or somebody near me will also have to deal with a bullet punching a hole through their chest, because I walk around armed. Just like all good citizens should.
Oh wait, guns are banned in the UK, right?"
And with people like you around Otto, I remain forever thankful that they are.
" So somebody trying to rob me or somebody near me will also have to deal with a bullet punching a hole through their chest, because I walk around armed. Just like all good citizens should.
Oh wait, guns are banned in the UK, right?"
And with people like you around Otto, I remain forever thankful that they are.
So somebody trying to rob me or somebody near me will also have to deal with a bullet punching a hole through their chest, because I walk around armed. Just like all good citizens should.
Oh wait, guns are banned in the UK, right?"
Actually they'd shoot and then rob you - just like all good robbers in the US would. Coz carrying a gun is legal.
Oh wait, here in the UK it isn't.
I'm with Gary on this one. If you walk round my home town or (some areas of) London with your white headphones and a phone out, you're bloody likely to get mugged. Grr - chavs, I hate them.
@ 17 - we are neither 'Great' nor 'United' anymore
Otto:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_wit_fir_cap
You do the math. If you can, that is. (Gotta love the company we're keeping on that second stat, eh? We're almost as safe as Uruguay!)
btw, you'd be considered a criminal in my city (the safest large city in the country, not coincidentally), and I'm an American. And you'd be facing down an army of 40,000 cops with heavier weapons than you'll ever own.
90% of the guns that are used in crimes here are brought here from red states by people like you. So I've got no sympathy for you when you finally do shoot your own big toe off.
#22 & #23
People like Otto are not your problem. If more people had that attitude there would be less criminals because there would be less easy victims.
Wow, you mean that since the gun ban in the UK has taken effect crime hasn't ceased? I doubt that gun crime has even dropped.
All gun bans do is take them away from people that follow the laws, i.e. non-criminals.
The UK is in the process of banning pointy kitchen knives also, I'm sure as soon as that takes effect you will be completely safe. What a joke.
What? Isn't this the same UK that has like 5 gazillion video cameras everywhere that allow them to identify and track a criminals movements?
Shouldn't they be able to use these cameras to catch the theives and recover anything stolen? Isn't that the whole point of the system.
I shoulnd't have to *hide* something I legally own and am allowed to use. The fact the government in the UK is trying to shift the blame to innocent people trying to use their property is really sad.
"But frankly, I don't consider that theirs is."
Wow, a human life is worth less than a $300 piece of gadgetry... I love your morals and ethics.
"The fact the government in the UK is trying to shift the blame to innocent people trying to use their property is really sad."
They're not shifting the blame, they're teaching them prevention. Next time, don't spout gibberish.
Yeah everyone... stop using your *mobile* devices in public. Use them at home where you're safe.
Those posters give the impression that Britain is swarming with thieves, and the police have just given up, or are too inept to prevent crime.
Next the British government will start telling people not to drive cars because they will just be stolen, or not to leave home because that will encourage criminals to stab them.
Maybe they should think about giving police guns, or at least something better than a whistle... *Tweet* "stop, or I'll blow my whistle again!"
The comment 'don't advertise your mp3 to thieves' could apply to the RIAA. Don't promote music - pirates might see!
The problem is that when we give them guns the shoot innocent Brazilians. Eight times. In the head. Nice...
so to ignore the whole...debate thing going on in the comments, i liked this one on a bus in london:
http://users.wpi.edu/~jamesv/shots/london/jan13/camera%20phone%20sticker.JPG
-james
Matt writes in response to Otto:
"But frankly, I don't consider that theirs is."
Wow, a human life is worth less than a $300 piece of gadgetry... I love your morals and ethics.
Well, Matt, Otto's comment may sound callous, but the way I figure it, someone who steals something of mine when my back is turned deserves some jail time (or maybe 20 whacks on his bare behind in the public square). Someone who threatens my life (and means it!) in order to steal from me does, in my opinion, deserve to be removed from civilized society for the rest of his life, and I can't bring myself to shed a single tear over the thought that a mugger who would be willing to kill Otto for a few hundred dollars worth of gadgets might end up dead.
lol byepod!
in the usa get some 15,000 people killed every year shooting their chests off. in the UK about 700. AND nowhere in the free world are you more likely to get your iPod stolen as in the good ol' US of A. Nubers talk for themselves, don't they? I love whistles...
@25 'Great' in 'Great Britain' doesnt mean great as in very good... It means Great as in Grand or Big. Although I'm not sure it means big as in physical size. Maybe it means we were once a big/great empire.
Here is a video version of the ad:
http://www.davidreviews.com/MMovies/Nov04/2004110130_medium.wmv
And its not just mobiles and mp3 players... there are adverts for houses and cars:
http://www.davidreviews.com/MMovies/Nov04/2004110132_medium.wmv
Pretty funny just started secondary school (Ireland) and got my phone nicked today! Big problem in Ireland
I wonder if they wrote the messages so they could be interpreted in more than one way, such is the case with "Keep it in your trousers" and "don't play with it in public"
Ps. I've just started college in the most chaviest town in London. Just as well the students there aren't Chavs, I wouldn't be able to take my iPod in, but I have to be careful when I pass through Eltham, which is the town I've described. it's even chavier than Sutton (or Slutton, as I call it)
Dear UK government;
Thanks for telling people about my nice new ipod and phone. It's been great wandering around with them, but now I'm worried that these adverts will encourage people to steal them.
I hope that the next bunch of adverts you put out encourage an end to the economic conditions that cause poverty in the UK, and mean that less people turn into horrible chavs. I also hope that my tax bill goes down, so I can buy a nano.
Yours,
Pete
Up here in the windy north of scotch-land, I take my gadgets anywhere and stun any would be theifs with an blinding ray of shinyness...
Bad Guy: "geeez us yer mun'ay" (please, good yoe-man - may I be so impolite to mug you?)
Me: *reaching for PSP's three BLINDING levels of LCD Brightness* "BITE ME!"
... in reality I was mugged as a lad, t'was a bit of a bitch then - but hey I have insurance these days, and backups :D
Hilarious, keep it in your pants...
Seriously: I respect Britain's laws and view it as an experiment. However, is it working?
If you check #26 (Jeff's) link the US does have
more firearm murders (per capita) but the overall
murder per capita difference was much smaller. Knives, anyone? What role does poverty/education per capita play, hum? As for the Brazilian...don't run from cops in the tube! #38 loves Nubers :)
#38 pol
To paraphrase a famous quote: "There a lies, damn lies and then there are statistics".
First, I don't see an attribution for your numbers. Second, comparing 15,000 to 700 makes no sense. What is the number of gun related deaths per capita? That would give you a better idea of the safety of gun ownership. A better measure would be the percentage of gun related deaths in the course of criminal activity versus accidental gun deaths since criminals, in both the US and the UK, seem to be able to get their hands on guns regardless of the amount of gun laws. Even better, what is the comparison of gun related deaths compared to other weapons used, like the sharp pointy knives that some in Britain are trying to ban now, or deaths caused by car accidents.
And don't even bother writing back if your source is Handgun Control Inc.
Come now people, the government isnt saying don't use your gadgets in public, its trying to stop people being careless.
Coming from someone who worked in phone retail for 2 years i can tell you that at least 3 people a week who come in after leaving their phone on a pub table, or putting their bag down and walking off to dance.
In that instance i fail to see how its the polices problem, its your own negligence.
Muggings a different matter of course
think they'll make tshirts? I'd love to get my hands on a "keep it in your pants" or "don't play with it in public" tshirt.... hmmm, perhaps.
I second kbiel (post 44): please give us your sources and more useful data. As someone whose parents work in law enforcement, I know that quite a few gun-related crimes are indeed done with illegally-obtained weaponry.
I'd be very afraid to walk around with any display of wealth/electronic gadgetry in the UK.
[The situation: I'm in a seedy suburb of London. A mugger approaches me with a gun and demands my backpack with my laptop in it.]
Mugger: Give me your money and your backpack!
Me: You can't threaten me with that gun! It's illegal to have it!
Mugger: Right, what are YOU gonna do about it?
Me: I'll call the police!
Mugger: Go right ahead.
Me: Crap, what's the emergency number here in the UK?
Mugger: It's 999, chump.
Me: (On my cell/mobile) Hello? I'm being threatened illegally by a mugger with an illegal gun!
Dispatcher: Right-o, bloke! We'll be there straightaway with our whistles and nightsticks!
Me: Oh, thank you! Thank--
Mugger: Very good. Now, if you'll excuse me--
(I drop dead as the mugger shoots me, grabs my backpack, and runs off.)
#44 - you wanted an attribution...
It was mentioned earlier.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_wit_fir_cap
US - 8th most likely place in the world to get shot.
UK - 31st.
You're 30 times more likely to get shot in the US.
You're 4 times more likely to get murdered without firearms being involved even in the US.
You're 3 times more likely to get raped.
You're infinitely more likely to get executed. You're less likely to get executed in Syria than the US.
These posters are nothing more than any government crime prevention campaign like fitting window locks or telling us to cross the road at crossings. It's common sense not to get your flashy phone out in some dodgy neighbourhood but sadly common sense seems to be increasingly absent these days.
We have a growing number of petty little crimes like this in the UK and falling violent crime from a low level anyway so it's right to target petty crime.