London’s murder rate continues upwards

krish

Most densely populated city in the UK?

weaviemx5

Lots of rich MPs looking to buy cocaine?

Greg Hook

This is a prime example of using figures to illustrate a point, which in isolation prove a point, but technically actually proves nothing.

A % increase without the number if instances also shown is meaningless.

Say for example that in Kent in 2010 there were 100 instances of knife crime. In 2018 there were 252. That's the 152% increase.

Then say London there were 10000 instances of knife crime in 2010, but in 2018 there were 11100. Only an 11% increase but suggesting a far worse problem than in Kent.

I've just made those figures up to illustrate the point, but it shows that you can use statistics to prove whatever you want if you do it without the full information.

weaviemx5

I fully agree, that’s why I followed up the table with;

“Whilst an 11% increase in London may result in more individual knife crimes (as the population is so much larger), it doesn't mean that knife crime is growing at a faster rate there.”

I was responding to the statement that knife crime is rising much faster in London, which it isn’t, although the actual number of crimes involving knives are higher than other places.

springtide

How does London's spate of killings compare with other cities?

The Metropolitan police investigated twice as many murders as Greater Manchester police in the year ending March 2017

Population of Manchester = Approx 500K Population of London = Approx 8M (~ x16)

As the UK’s biggest city by far, London would be expected to have consistently the highest number of homicides, and it has, excluding Hillsborough, but murder rates as a proportion of population are higher elsewhere, and not just in other large cities.

e.g. murder rates in Manchester are x8 that of London per population.

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People keep pointing the figure at Khan but he is not responsible for the whole country. It is very convenient to point the finger at Khan because it is a complete "get out of jail" card for the government.

And it is not like the government are not aware:
£100 million funding for police to tackle violent crime

Why has the funding taken so long?  [Published 13 March 2019]
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The Chancellor announced in the Spring Statement today that this funding will ease policing pressures and will pay for police forces to have more officers available to respond to crime or patrol in communities.

The funding will also be invested in Violence Reduction Units, bringing together a range of agencies including health, education, social services and others, to develop a multi-agency approach in preventing knife crime altogether. The units will be based on models used in Glasgow where homicide rates fell by 54% from 2006/07 to 2015/16.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:

We know action is needed now to tackle knife crime which is blighting communities around the country. That’s why I’m announcing today that I’ve heard the calls from the police and the families affected by this devastating crime, and will make available an additional £100 million to spent over the course of the next year.

This money will be ringfenced to pay for increased police presence and patrolling to make our streets safer. But it will also go further in tackling the causes of this crime by investing in Violent Crime Reduction Units in worst affected areas.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

I am deeply concerned by the rising levels of knife crime that is devastating communities and robbing young people of their lives and futures.

I’ve been doing everything in my power to ensure we have the strongest possible response in place, but tackling this requires action on many fronts.

Law enforcement plays a key role - and it is clear from speaking to police leaders in recent weeks that they need an immediate increase in resources.

I’ve listened to their concerns and this £100 million – including £80 million new funding from the Treasury - will allow them to swiftly crack-down on knife crime on the areas of the country where it is most rife.

This is on top of the £970m of additional money that policing is already due to receive from April from the Government and Council Tax.

Today’s new funding covers one year, and is made up of £80 million Treasury funding with £20 million from Home Office reprioritisation for the financial year 2019/20.

The majority of the funding will be provided to Police and Crime Commissioners for the seven police forces where serious violence levels are highest, and which make up around 70% of knife crime. Those forces cover London, West Midlands, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Wales and Greater Manchester.

Final allocations to Police and Crime Commissioners will be confirmed in due course.

Separately, the Home Secretary has committed to tracking the impact that this funding is having and to work with policing to make sure this issue is prioritised and tackled.

This is on top of the £970 million of additional money that policing is already due to receive from April 2019, including additional funding that the Chancellor announced at last year’s Budget. Police and crime commissioners have already committed to the recruitment and training of nearly 3,000 extra police officers. Longer-term funding for the police will be confirmed at this year’s Spending Review.
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If you read the above they are spot on as this isn't just a policing matter.

springtide

It is not looking for city's with gold stars as yo put it, but it shows that there is a problem across the whole of the country and not just London, and specifically London is no worse than any of the other major city's.

We all understand why this is happening, it is known what will help (e.g. what was done in Glasgow), but there are no funds to implement from government.

weaviemx5

An interesting first response from our prospective new PM, and former Mayor, regarding the need for more Police to tackle knife crime/murder;

                                                                       

Cliff

^^^An encouraging response. Let’s hope he means it.

gavinhanly

So once again it's all about increasing police numbers, which is only part of the problem. No mention of education, prevention or anything similar to the Glasgow approach. To be expected, I suppose, as it's the easier message and speaks to the base.

Let's see if he adds to that in coming weeks, but I'm not hopeful.

weaviemx5

When Khan mentions a need to increase Police numbers, he’s accused of blaming others.  When Johnson says the same thing, you find it an, “encouraging response”, what’s the difference?