Knife Crime - Home Affairs Committee Contents


Memorandum submitted by the Metropolitan Police Service

1.  SUMMARY

  1.1  This paper seeks to assist in the debate about tackling knife crime by providing an overview of the London experience. The MPS have been developing its response to knife crime for some time and although there is still much work to be done, it believes that the response is appropriate and will significantly reduce the carriage and use of weapons in public space.

2.  DATA

Availability and reliability

  2.1  The MPS Performance Information Bureau produces and quality assures extensive data on knife crime.

  2.2  Following the introduction of the new national "serious knife crime" definition, which is part of the National Indicator set and APACS, the Assessment of Policing and Community Safety, the MPS has completed an extensive review of its knife crime data. This exercise ensured that data from April 2007 onwards complied with the new definition.

  2.3  This change in definition has made longer term comparisons invalid and the MPS would prefer that a definition for "serious knife crime" was restricted to knives and other purpose designed instruments, rather than the existing definition which includes pins and pens as "sharp instruments".

Knife Carrying Offences

  2.4  The number of police detections for possession of a knife or sharp instrument has significantly increased in London. For the period 1 April 2008 to 31 August 2008 there where 1,668 police detections compared with 867 in the same period in 2007. This reflects the current protracted enforcement activity.

  2.5  The use of stop and search in this context is essentially intended as a preventative measure to provide an effective deterrent to the carriage of knives. The recent decline in possession offences provides cautious optimism that the use of stop and search is having the intended effect.

Hotspots

  2.6  The MPS has been seeking to identify and fill intelligence gaps in order to gain a more comprehensive picture and understanding of the extent and nature of knife crime.

  2.7  A programme being developed involves London Hospitals sharing depersonalised information concerning assaults inflicted by the use of knives. It is strongly believed that not all knife related incidents are reported to police therefore valuable information regarding locations, individuals involved and reasons for such incidents are lost. Hospital doctors cite alcohol as a feature in knife injury cases they treat.

  2.8  London hotspots do not significantly shift over time irrespective of enforcement campaigns. This reinforces the fact that "enforcement" alone is not the solution.

Offender Profiles

  2.9  All the statistics shown in this section relate to the period covering 1 April 2008 to 31 August 2008.

  2.10  In respect of knife possession most common age category for persons proceeded against[44] by the MPS was 18 to 29 accounting for 41%. The second highest was the under 18 category accounting for 27%.

  2.11  In respect of knife crime offences the largest group of persons proceeded against are in the 18 to 29 age category representing 41%, with those under 18 accounting for 31%. The 30 to 39 age category represents only 14%.

  2.12  In knife crime victim profiles the 18 to 29 age category accounts for 39% and the under 18 category accounts for 24%. The 30 to 39 age category accounts for 17% of knife crime victims.

Public Perception of levels of knife crime

  2.13  The August 2008 statistics which cover the period from 1 April to 31 August 2008 show that knife crime (excluding possession offences) fell by 9.1% compared to the same period in 2007.

  2.14  However, due to media exposure of the knife related fatalities it is believed that the public perception of knife crime is distorted and that they believe knife crime has risen or is out of control.

3.  CAUSES

Reasons for carrying and use

  3.1  Knives are easily obtainable and the reasons for people carrying them are cited as self protection or as a fashion accessory. In addition knives are carried with the intention of committing criminal acts such as street robbery and assaults.

Availability of knives

  3.2  Knives are easily obtainable in shops, from catalogues and on the internet. They include different types such as pen knives, domestic knives, specialist knives, ie, hunting, combat, survival, etc, and prohibited knives listed in the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988. The MPS carries out significant activity with Trading Standards and other partners to combat illegal sale.

Current Legislation

  3.3  Laws restricting the sale, carrying, use and production of knives are contained in a number of pieces of legislation.

  3.4  However knives cannot be legislated against in the same fashion as guns. Anecdotal evidence shows that the most common knife used in knife crime is a domestic knife. These type of items if found on a person in a public place fall within existing legislation. Therefore any additional legislation is unwarranted at this time.

4.  SOLUTIONS

Prevention—Education, parents and community projects

  4.1  The MPS has a prevention plan to reduce serious youth violence that puts in place a range of universal, targeted and specialist youth engagement programmes to address youth violence. It will build on a structured risk assessment process (Youth Safety Assessment Tool). When this has been shared with partners individual plans will be produced to address the identified risk. This is being piloted in Greenwich and Lewisham and being extended to eight other Boroughs.

  4.2  This process will be used to target programmes on knife awareness, as developed within the "Stolen Lives" programme, Junior Citizen, Be-Safe, and Miss Dorothy.com programmes, delivered in schools, youth clubs and other places where young people meet all over London by combinations of teachers, police officers, and trained practitioners.

  4.3  Other key prevention initiatives include:

    Diamond Districts—enhanced Safer Neighbourhood Teams working with a team from other agencies will seek to rehabilitate and reduce re-offending rates amongst those offenders regularly subject to short terms of imprisonment who reside in specific areas. The Teams will comprise MPS police officers and PCSOs working with expert support from a range of criminal justice agencies. There are currently six nominated Diamond Districts in London.

    Youth Offender Detention—work is being progressed with the Prison Service to ensure that detention is kept within local, London-based youth offending institutions. This is intended to strengthen links to local rehabilitation services and similarly reduce re-offending rates through close monitoring coupled with enhanced support.

    Pathways—an initiative intended to target violent offenders operating in street gangs through the provision of direct support coupled with close monitoring and police-led enforcement.

  4.4  The importance of linking prevention interventions is recognised by the MPS Youth Strategy by ensuring that schemes such as Diamond Districts, Wave Trust's family intervention programmes, Pathways, and the Prince's Trust Programmes, are all part of a co-ordinated prevention plan.

Police Operations, amnesties and enforcement

  4.5  In London enforcement operations have been a feature for several years. The latest operation, "Blunt 2" has been operating continuously since May of this year.

  4.6  The focus of our enforcement operations is to tackle dangerous people and dangerous places at specific, dangerous times. All activity is led by best intelligence and analysis of victims, offenders and locations/venues.

  4.7  Operation Alliance, commencing in November 2007, targeted 420 individuals from 22 known street gangs in south London. To date some 150 (35%) of these offenders remain in custody following arrests, prosecutions and sentencing.

  4.8  Since Operation Blunt 2 started across London on 19 May 2008, all boroughs have been undertaking operations to target the dangerous places, through stop and search and associated tactics, and dangerous people by targeting an additional 250 offenders across the MPS. Some 49 (20%) offenders from this group are currently in custody following police operations to arrest and prosecute for a range of criminal activity.

  4.9  Since 4 July 2008 Operation Blunt 2 has also deployed a central Task Force comprising 100 officers (uniform and detectives) supporting Boroughs to tackle street gangs and others involved in the carriage and use of knives.

  4.10  The use of Stop and search powers under section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984 and section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 have significantly increased in key areas providing enhanced public reassurance to communities.

  4.11  This tactic is vital to detect and deter knife carrying and also provides police with important intelligence. There is significant community engagement and support in respect of these police operations.

  4.12  The focus of activity against the dangerous people continues to be the individuals and gangs that cause the most harm, identified through our intelligence processes and targeted by dedicated asset at both Borough and London-wide levels; and violent offenders brought to justice through prompt arrest, charge and prosecution wherever the opportunities arise.

  4.13  In relation to dangerous places and dangerous times, the focus is on:

    Regular deployments of officers to undertake stop and search, utilising Section 60, in those places exhibiting the greatest occurrence of knife crime to create an environment hostile to the routine carriage of weapons, particularly knives.

    Neighbourhood weapon sweeps deployed routinely to detect and remove weapons concealed in public space.

    Deployments to ensure the safety of young people before and after school/college, including public transport routes and interchanges.

    Operations to ensure the safety of those attending public events where there is a risk of weapon carriage and/or serious youth violence.

    Work to ensure that events held in private and/or licensed premises are adequately planned and managed to prevent weapon carriage and related violence.

  4.14  To date, Operation Blunt 2 has involved over 126,000 searches, over 5,000 arrests, and the recovery of more than 2,900 knives.

  4.15  Community engagement is an important element of Operation Blunt 2. Tactics used are discussed with communities across London. This has been a central feature of activity in order that enforcement is designed and delivered in collaboration with the community. This enhanced level of community engagement under Blunt 2 will continue, including significant and ongoing engagement with young people through the emerging school-based youth panels serviced by Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

  4.16  The last pan-London knife amnesty was held in 2006. Although such initiatives are useful for raising public awareness of knife crime and removing unwanted knives from circulation there is no evidence to suggest they reduce knife related offences.

  4.17  Although enforcement activity is important, prevention and diversion schemes both locally and centrally are of equal importance. The Police clearly cannot solve the knife crime problem alone.

  4.18  A key element in success will be the partnership working with other agencies/organisations across London, including:

    Effective data sharing to ensure that information regarding identified gang nominals held by all agencies is made available for enforcement and prevention activity.

    Support for extended schools and youth service provision directed towards those individuals known to be at risk of involvement in violence.

    Specific support for new disruption tactics, including the use of child protection powers through local Safeguarding Children Boards.

    Support for enhanced communication with parents and others who can exert control and reduce risk of involvement with gangs.

    Support from the internet service providers for pro-active work to prevent the use of the internet to glamorise and plan gang-related violence.

    Licensing enforcement where this is a feature in serious youth violence/knife crime.

    Problem solving activity in locations identified as hotspots for serious youth violence/knife crime.

Convictions, penalties and sentencing

  4.19  The comments by the President of the High Court Queen's Bench Division, Judge Sir Igor Judge, regarding the prosecution of people caught in possession of a knife or offensive weapon is welcomed and has demonstrated the clear and positive message that the CJS is joined-up in tackling this issue.

  4.20  The MPS has tried to evaluate the impact of sentencing but have found that the data is not easily accessible and have had to undertake a bureaucratic dip sample of two separate weeks, which is yet to fully inform the debate on this issue.

5.  CONCLUSION

  5.1  The MPS is confident that the range of operational tactics it is using to combat knife crime are being and will continue to be effective, complemented by the partnership and prevention activity we are engaged in. However this is not an issue that will be resolved in the short term and the MPS is committed to continuing with this activity for as long as necessary. Medium and longer term solutions are required that harness the energy and resources of a wide range of organisations, delivered in conjunction with communities.

October 2008







44   By persons proceeded against we mean people who have been arrested and had further action taken against them, including charge, caution, summons, TIC, PND. Back


 
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