From time to time, people panic about homicide rates. Yes they are still too high (why can't people just realize they shouldn't go around killing people?). But the truth is that we have come a long way.

![](https://i.imgsafe.org/f1e896b8a9.jpg)
[image source](https://ourworldindata.org/homicides/)

For example by the fourteenth century Oxford was a great university town - and it was extremely violent. [Studies show](http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/23/us/historical-study-of-homicide-and-cities-surprises-the-experts.html) that in the 1340's, the homicide rate in Oxford was about 110 per 100,000, much higher than in London at the time when it was "only" 36 per 100,000. Perhaps drunk students were more likely to get into fights and feuds than the merchants of London who were far too busy making money.

Despite the overall homicide rate being much lower in England than on the continent (see the graph above), the public felt that things were out of control, and Parliament decided to get tough on crime in 1389  and abolished the practice of pardoning violent crime if you volunteered to serve in the army. And the punishments for crime became more severe - you didn't just get executed with a clean sharp sword. No, they decided to hang you till you were half dead, and then draw you through the streets and then quarter you. The mob bayed for even more severe punishments, to deter those who would commit murder.

Crime did start to drop - [by the 15th century](http://www.historytoday.com/sean-mcglynn/violence-and-law-medieval-england), it was down to just 15 per 100,000 people. Lots of crimes were committed with agricultural implements (it was a farming society and iron shovels and axes were always readily to hand).

All types of crime started to drop in 17th century England, not just murder, but theft as well. The reason was that Parliament had gotten stronger. The English civil war had transferred a lot of power from the King to Parliament, and Parliament was able to keep the peace better. 

The protestant revolution meant that people started taking good behaviour seriously again, especially as corrupt church courts were abolished and all crimes were tried in Crown courts instead. Feuds were frowned upon, values started to improve, people started to admire self-control, and Parliament was protecting property rights better (which meant that people didn't have to defend their property themselves). In other words, the state was expanding. (Note that in this period violence in Italy was as high as it was in the renaissance - Italy didn't develop a strong state till the 19th century.)

In the 19th century, Britain invented the world's first police force - they were called "bobbys" after the Prime Minister Robert Peel. It was an unarmed police force (and remains unarmed today), but trained to defuse violence and detect the culprits of crime, which deterred would-be criminals. In addition, the punishments changed - instead of always being executed, you were now transported to Australia for minor crimes. Prisons focused on rehabilitation. The work-place changed too - people worked in large factories, where there was a foreman keeping order, and not much chance to get into random fights, and not many implements at hand to kill people. And property was defended even more rigorously by the courts. Literacy and education improved, and with it came good behaviour.

By the twentieth century, the population was disarmed too, with guns being outlawed in the 1990's. The homicide rate is now 1.5 per 100,000.

We currently live in the safest period of history.