Extra bobbies on beat reduce knife crime by up to 25pc, says Cooper

Telegraph

4 days ago

Extra bobbies on the beat have helped slash knife-enabled robberies by up to 25 per cent, Yvette Cooper has claimed.
Seven forces reported falls of between 2 per cent and 25 per cent in muggings involving knives after targeted police campaigns against crime.
Tactics included increasing visible patrols of bobbies on the beat, using drones, knife arches and detection dogs to support police on the ground, and deploying plain clothes officers.
It followed a 14 per cent increase in knife-enabled robbery in the seven areas in the year to June last year amid a sharp decline in charging rates for the offences. The seven areas accounted for 70 per cent of knife-enabled robbery in England and Wales.
Data published earlier this week showed just 5.1 per cent of robberies in London last year resulted in a perpetrator being charged, down from 6.8 per cent in 2021. For theft from the person, just one in 170 (0.6 per cent) of offences resulted in a charge, down from 1.1 per cent in 2021.
After the blitz, West Midlands saw a 25 per cent fall, British Transport police 24 per cent, Avon and Somerset 9 per cent, West Yorkshire 7 per cent, South Yorkshire 6 per cent and the Met Police 2 per cent. Only Greater Manchester saw an increase of 4 per cent.
Ms Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: 'When we came to office, knife-enabled robbery was increasing at a concerning rate, but we have now started to drive numbers of those offences down through the work of our dedicated taskforces, and as a result, we have also seen the first small reduction in overall knife crime for four years.
'The drop in knife-enabled robbery in key problem areas shows the impact that our strong new action on knife crime is having, but we now need to supercharge these efforts through more smart and targeted interventions.
'Anyone can be a victim of knife crime, but new 'hex mapping' technology shows that the vast majority of knife crime is concentrated in a relatively small, hyper-concentrated number of areas.'
Data from the Office for National Statistics' Crime Survey for England and Wales, show that the proportion of the public who say they never see an officer on the beat has doubled in the past decade.
Respondents who had never seen a foot patrol in their area rose to 54 per cent in 2023/24 compared with 27 per cent in 2009/10. Labour has pledged to put an extra 13,000 officers into neighbourhood roles.
A ban on ninja swords also comes into force on Friday, as part of the Government's commitment to halve knife crime in the next decade. At least 1,000 of the weapons have been handed in as part of a surrender scheme.
The Government has also pledged to tackle the sale of weapons online as part of Ronan's Law, which was introduced following the death of 16-year-old Ronan Kanda, who was murdered with a ninja sword bought online.
This would require retailers to report bulk or suspicious knife orders to the police, put in place more stringent age-verification checks and impose significant fines on tech executives whose platforms fail to prevent illegal sales.
Pooja Kanda, Ronan's mother, said: 'Ronan was just 16 years old when his life was stolen by a 22-inch ninja sword that should never have been so easy to buy. Ronan's Law is not only a step towards justice for my son, but for every parent who wants to see their child come home safely.
'This law is about saving lives, closing dangerous loopholes, and holding those responsible to account. The Government's knife surrender scheme has been a sign of commitment to tackling the scourge of knife crime. While there is still much more to do, these are significant steps in the right direction.'
The Home Office has also said a 'surrender van' will be deployed at this year's Notting Hill Carnival.