Crime and punishment

The crimes previous to the Industrial Revolution were largely the same, excluding the introduction of crimes enabled by new technology i.e. going over the legal speed limit when driving a car.
Examples of said crimes - assault, breaking the Peace, murder, petty treason, seditious words, coining.

The crimes previous to the Industrial Revolution were largely the same, excluding the introduction of crimes enabled by new technology i.e. going over the legal speed limit when driving a car.
Examples of said crimes - assault, breaking the Peace, murder, petty treason, seditious words, coining.

Crimes before the Industrial Revolution

Crime
Technology – many new inventions in the early 20th century had an effect on crime, but the greatest of these by far was the motor car. Aeroplanes also made international transport and smuggling easier.
Beliefs – religious beliefs were declining and attitudes were shaped more by the media rather than the churches. This meant that people were less likely to see some crimes as bad as they would have done when society was shaped by religion.
Government – the welfare state that was begun by the Liberals in 1906 gave greater security to all citizens. Although this meant that there was less chances of people living in poor conditions and in poverty, it also meant that there were more laws surrounding the welfare state that could be broken.
Car crime
The first car appeared on the road in Britain in 1894, by 1930 there were 1 million cars on the road. In order to deal with this a mass of new offences were created. A car ownership involved: getting a licence, tax and insurance; the car had to be roadworthy; the driver had to obey all new signs and instructions; the car had to be driven carefully according to strict safety laws. The invention of the car didn’t only create more crime by people breaking these laws; it also meant there was an increase in crimes such as robbery as criminals then had a faster getaway vehicle. It also created crimes such as theft of a car and joyriding. By 1939 nearly 60% of all crimes were car crimes of some sort. An unforeseen aspect of car crime was a change in the type of people caught breaking the law. Pre 20th century crime was almost completely committed by the working class, but offences like breaking the speed limit or parking regulations meant middle class people were also facing the law.
Smuggling
Just like in other periods of time, as long as the government imposes restrictions on imports, people tried to smuggle goods. New 20th century transport methods, such as international air travel, made smuggling easier. In the early 20th century import duties on brandy, gin and cigarettes meant it was worth smuggling them. A little later in the century there was an increase demand on illegal drugs and there were huge amounts of money to be made which attracted smugglers.
Punishments
The increase in population and crime in the 1800s made many developments in policing and punishment, the first of which was the ‘Bloody Code’ which enforced that crime was to be punished by severe penalties. Another was transportation, when criminals were sent to Britain's colonies, such as Australia as a punishment for major crimes but this was stopped in 1867. In replacement of this, prison sentences became more common and prisons conditions were improved and regulated. As part of this, long-term prison sentences in ‘Houses of Correction’ were also more widely imposed towards the century’s end. Lesser crimes such as petty thieving were likely to result in the criminal being fined, branded on the hand, or shamed in front of the general public.
Crime prevention
At the beginning of the 20th century there were 181 police forces in Britain. Many of these were very small. Different forces worked in different ways and there was little contact or co-operation between them. There was no central criminal record keeping. Greater mobility of criminals and the need to make use of new technology let to police forces merging and co-operating. Over the century the police became a much better trained force. New technology made many changes to the way the police did their work. Some discoveries, such as finger printing (1901), were new ways of catching criminals. Most discoveries were ways of allowing police to move faster and communicate with each other more quickly. The police began to use bicycles in 1909, radios in 1910 and cars in 1919.