…and with ID cards they could stop them buying, say, big knives? Or garden shredders with which they might dispose of the evidence?

“Fargo” was in Wiltshire, after all, wasn’t it?

Via Bart:

news.com.au

BRITISH criminal psychologists are putting together a list of the 100 most dangerous murderers and rapists before they have committed any such crimes, The Times has reported.

Experts from London’s Metropolitan Police’s Homicide Prevention Unit are creating psychological profiles, compiled through statements from previous partners, information from mental health workers, and details of past complaints.

“My vision is that we know across London who the top 100 people are,” Homicide Prevention Unit senior criminal psychologist Laura Richard said.

“We need to know who we are targeting.”

The team is apparently focusing its work on reducing the risk of those with a history of involvement in domestic violence turning to murder – about 25 per cent of all murders are related to domestic violence, the newspaper said.

Pilot projects to target high-risk future offenders have been operating in five London boroughs for about two months.

Once an individual has been targeted, police can decide whether to make moves towards an arrest – though the newspaper did not specify on what grounds this could occur – or they could alert relevant social services.

The report was met with opposition from privacy groups with Simon Davies, director of Privacy International telling the newspaper: “It is quite right that the police should keep intelligence on suspected criminals, but it is obscene to suggest there should be a … list of those who might commit an offence.