Knife crime in England and Wales rises 8% over year

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/18/knife-crime-england-wales-police

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Knife crime-related offences rose by 8% in England and Wales in the past year, government figures have shown.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, police forces recorded 43,516 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument, in comparison with 40,215 in the year ending March 2018.

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The increase, based on data from 43 police forces in England and Wales, excludes Greater Manchester police (GMP) due to the force’s undercounting of knife-related crimes in previous years.

When crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument recorded by GMP over the past year are factored in, the figure for offences in England and Wales is 47,136 – the highest since records began.

Of those incidents, 32% happened in London – where for every 100,000 people, there were 169 knife-related offences.

Outside of the capital, the areas with the highest rates were Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire, where there were 129, 118 and 116 knife-related offences per 100,000 people respectively.

In recent weeks, the government has come under increased scrutiny over their tackling of Britain’s knife crime crisis after it extended controversial stop and search powers.

Assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm accounted for 46% of offences involving a knife or sharp object, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Robberies made up 18,462 or 42% of offences in the category – an increase of 10% from the previous year.

Homicide, rape, attempted murder and sexual assault involving a knife or sharp instrument made up a small proportion of the figures in the year ending March 2019.

The most prolific related offence was robbery involving a knife or sharp instrument –with 18,462 incidents recorded – up 10% from April 2017 to March 2018, when 16,732 incidents were recorded.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, there were 40,215 offences recorded that involved a knife or sharp instrument – a 31% increase from the year ending March 2011 when 30,620 of the same kind of offences were recorded.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) uses two main sources for their crime data statistical bulletins: the Crime Survey for England and Wales and the police recorded crime numbers.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales is a face-to-face questionnaire. People are asked about their experiences of a selected range of offences in the 12 months prior to the interview. The ONS say this is the most reliable indicator for long-term trends, as it isn't subject to changes in the way that police forces monitor and record crime, and it will include people talking about experiences that weren't reported to the police.

Police recorded crime is the number of notifiable crimes reported to and recorded by the police. The list of notifiable crimes is determined by the Home Office. The ONS say this data is more reliable for the recording of rarer crimes, like murder, and for crimes like theft, where people are often inclined to report a crime to the police as part of an insurance claim. This data cannot measure crimes not reported to the police because victims felt them too trivial, or where they may be reluctant to come forward to the police for personal reasons.

Nick Hurd, minister for policing and the fire service, said: “While the chances of being a victim of crime remain low, we are deeply concerned that certain offences, including serious violence, have increased and we are taking urgent action.

“Police funding is increasing by more than £1bn this year, including council tax and £100 million for forces worst affected by violent crime.”

Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: “The Tories are losing the fight against violent crime, and their reckless cuts to the police and youth support are at the heart of the crisis.

“All communities hit hard by rising crime will rightly be angry at the hypocrisy of Boris Johnson in demanding more police officers when he’s voted for every police cut since he entered office.”