I mentioned before in passing the fact that the Home Office (I’m not sure whether it’s now the responsibility of minijust or not) spends a lot of money on adverts telling us, in so many words, that crime is all the victim’s fault. I see the adverts everywhere: on lamposts; at bus stops; in tube stations and in the trains themselves.

Now, I’ve found the motherlode. Just looking at the adverts raises my blood pressure enough that it’s actually shortening my life!

Here are a couple of examples (you can find the originals as PDFs at the link above):

Don't play with it in public. Don't advertise your mobile to thieves.

Showing off your phone is showing off to thieves.

‘Showing off your phone is showing off to thieves.’ Perhaps. But it’s very difficult to place a call when it’s still in your pocket. If using a mobile phone is inviting theft, then why own one at all? It’s valueless advice. Here’s my suggested wording improvement:

Own stuff? It’s your own fault if it gets nicked.

If we really can’t use our mobile phones in public without them getting stolen, the problem lies elsewhere. Maybe the police are too busy investigating stabbings and chasing terrorist bogeymen to pay attention to thefts, but if there really is no appetite for policing acquisitive crime, we should be told, not blamed.

I think I should make a Freedom of Information request to find out how much they’ve wasted on this advertising campaign.