There are a couple of reasons why crime in the UK is as high as it is and why it's happening.

Before I start, I'll state for the record that I'm not a trigger happy hill-billy. I'm a regular professional office worker, a Programmer to be precise.

Firstly, a lot of crime is being committed by teens and early adults, they have no sense of responsibility or of consequences for their actions. From early on in life, children need to be told that certain things are wrong, and punished. Simple fact. If you neglect this, children think they can do what they please and get away with it.

Secondly, the general population do not have a leg to stand on as far as personal defense. Yes British people have to right to defend themselves, but, in many cases the law is against them. You step in to help a fellow citizen, and you may get arrested, you carry a defensive weapon and you are really in some hot water.

Thirdly, the British government doesn't seem to think that the average citizenry is capable of forethought as to when to act or not act, and take personal defense into their own hands. If they did, the average person on the street would not live in fear of A) being assaulted or B) trying to defend themselves.

Four, and unfortunately this is your fault, yes, the British “Sheeple”. You let your own government ride rough shot over you and took away your rights. Yes, “let them”. You failed to stand up for your rights when the time came. A “right” not used, is a “right” removed. The British Bill of Rights stated that you the people of the United Kingdom had the right to bear arms. Yes, just like in America. But, you failed to retain those rights due to complacency.

Those are the facts.

What needs to change is simple
-bring back discipline to the home and class room
-change the laws regarding self defense to allow people to defend themselves without fear of arrest.
-fight for you rights when they are infringed, and don't give an inch !!

The result will be less new little g's on the street.
Criminal's will be more afraid of being injured by law abiding citizens, than citizens of criminal's.

Give back power to the people.

Now, let me give you some food for thought...
Yes, I'm British, but I now live in Atlanta, Georgia on a Green Card. Yes, we do have crime in some area's and yes every few weeks someone somewhere gets shot. It happens.
Do shootings happen everywhere ? No.
Overall America is amazingly safe, much safer than the UK, regardless of what you see on the glorified TV. I have yet to have heard a gun shot (other than at the gun range), rarely do I see a police cruiser running with lights. I've been here 14 years. Lived in Orange County California too, just south of Los Angeles county.

Where I live now is north of Atlanta, i.e. the burbs (Alpharetta if you care to look it up), you can walk at night, go shopping etc etc with zero fear of anything happening. There is a reason for this, a large percentage of us have guns. And it scares the crap out of the bad guys to the point that if a burglar or home invasion crew suspect the owner may have a gun, they don't attempt it. They know that if they even tread on the grass, they may end up 6 feet under it.

Unlike in the UK, we do NOT have to lock up guns and make it a ten minute chore to get to them. Yes it means that in some circumstances children get to them, this is just plain poor gun safety.
Also the government (in most states) trusts us enough to allow the law abiding of us to apply for Firearms Licenses. In the State of Georgia it's a Georgia Firearms License (GFL). The only difference between someone who doesn't have one and someone who does is that we can carry a sidearm (i.e. handgun), openly or concealed. I keep saying 'we' as although I'm not even a US citizen, I am a law abiding citizen and thus I “can” and “have” applied for a GFL. I also therefore own and carry a firearm, a law enforcement issue Glock 17, that in plain English means I have high capacity 17 round magazines. One has hollow points (the mag in the gun) and my backup mag has full metal jackets. I'm not a Police Officer, but again, in State of Georgia, I can have one.

So, some of you may be thinking, “if it's so safe in America, why carry a gun ?”, simple, because it's my “RIGHT”, and I choose to exercise that right. I carry a gun because it's an insurance policy. You drive a car, you have insurance in case that one in a million rear-end collision. And in my case, should I be in a bank going about my business and that one in a million bad day happens, I have the ability given to me by LAW to defend my personal space and that of my fellow citizens. Again, we are not a bunch of trigger happy rednecks, we just take our lives seriously.

One last thing, most US states have a “stand your ground” law. This is exactly as it sounds. If you are under threat from another individual or group and you are lawfully allowed to be where you are, then it is your RIGHT to not retreat if you do not wish it.
Therefore, if that individual or group decides to attack you outside of your local mom-n-pop grocery store, and you have a definitive fear for your life, then your rights for self defense are secured by law.
Yes, you can shoot your attackers at this point. It must be said that the odd's of such a thing happening in your average US town is about as remote as Donald Duck knocking on your door in person. The reason why the above doesn't happen is because such people know that before long a law abiding citizen with a gun will kill them. Therefore crime are this nature is almost unheard of, unlike the UK, which is happens with all too much frequency.
But, again this isn't the point, get it ? It's our right. Simple human right of self preservation and of self defense. It doesn't make us vigilantes or taking the law in to our own hands, its the government giving us the right. A cop will tell you this any time that they want people to have firearms for self defense because when seconds count, they are minutes away.

So, you want to live in a safer England, ask for the right for self defense and to lawfully stand your ground. Don't live like sheep.
And yes, it would help if all the criminal's out there had second thoughts about taking on an armed and lawful citizenry.