INDEX	June 6, 2024
No gangsters (& precious few UVF drug dealers) in Edinburgh
I watched BBC's Rebus, a great piece of writing by Ian Rankin and a fantastic production by the BBC. However, I was appalled by the body tally. So many were murdered, usually by shooting, that I lost count. So I looked up the figures. Well I did an online search: that's looking up isn't it? The most recent annual total I could find for the whole of Scotland was 58 for the entire year of April 2020 to March 2021. I don't know what the figure for Edinburgh might be but I expect it is something like a quarter of the total. Maybe 15. Most of the deaths were caused by a sharp instrument such as a knife. From which one has to conclude that Rebus is right when he says there are no gangsters in Edinburgh. As least, if there are, they are under performing gangsters in comparison to their American or perhaps Mexican cousins. The most amazing thing about the series is all the other police officers seemed to take the trail of violent murders as normal, nothing to remark about. It wouldn't be so bad if Rebus was a rubbish piece of tv, just another bit of cops and robbers nonsense. But it looks real. I can guarantee that there are weak minded people who genuinely believe that real life is like that.
INDEX Jonathan Brind	June 6, 2024