The police faced lawbreaking on the streets on a scale not seen for decades.

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Successive administrations, one Democrat, one Republican, have declined to prosecute this lawbreaking.

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In September alone, some 1, 500 lawbreaking public-transport drivers were arrested.

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That idea has divided the evangelical community and the party as a whole, with some supporting it and others opposing what they say amounts to a reward for lawbreaking.

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Another survey, for an insurance company foundation, Unipolis, published on July 27th, found that Italians saw crime as the main cause of insecurity, and almost half connected lawbreaking with foreigners.

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But in a free society the moral footing for peaceful lawbreaking must be an individual's readiness to take the consequences, argue in court and fight for a change in the law.

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But if we up the ante and actually arm every police officer, it will send a stark message to not only the lawbreaking society and individuals in the community but also the law-abiding ones.

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One potentially significant benefit is that BSkyB would be distanced from the British newspapers where the alleged lawbreaking took place - and so the risk of Ofcom stripping BSkyB of its broadcasting licence would presumably be diminished.

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"While there may be some lawbreaking among the cycling population, very few if any of those transgressions of the law are resulting in death or serious injury, " said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a bicycling advocacy group.

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