Rising crime in the UK

[Sheldon]

Well from what I've seen and from what people say, it is increasing.

Some people say?! You have seen stuff (unknown to others)?! Now, that settles the matter.
Wasnt it rising and not increasing in the first place? Someone (you) told me in another forum that rising =!= increasing.

I know this leapt out as third part hearsay, almost as alarming as the hyperbole of the "everyone knows" assertion. So for clarity, since he seems to think these are compelling claims, claiming to know what "everyone" thinks is risible hyperbole, and of course, the number of people who believe something (alone), tells us nothing about the validity of that belief. In the absence of any objective evidence, as this claim was offered, it represents a bare appeal to numbers, which of course is how an argumentum ad populum fallacy is defined. making the claim irrational, by definition.