FF: It’s mostly an increase in media publicity accompanied with video footage. In the past many incidents weren’t publicized, or were just in the local community papers, and mostly went unreported to the police. There was simply no “proof” to bother with it. Now with CCTV cameras everywhere, there’s hope the perpetrator will be caught, and the police are forced to take each case seriously.
There might also be the attention factor, of bums wanting to have their face/video plastered all over and gain “praise” from their likeminded friends. Which brings me to the copycat factor, which kind of negates what I just said…