London Knife Crime Ad Hoc
Published 14 November 2024
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2024
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Introduction
These data are released to provide transparency into those eligible for the Mayor of London Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) GPS knife crime pilot. This bulletin presents information on individuals convicted of knife crime offences in London and is split into two datasets to provide full coverage of those eligible and insight into those selected for the pilot. The two datasets cover:
- Individuals released from relevant London prisons between 1 February 2019 and 26 February 2024 who were managed by London Probation when released. These data are based on Prison National Offender Management Information System (P-NOMIS) case management system and are broken down by age, ethnicity and sex.
- Individuals who have been released from prison who were managed by London Probation as at 30 June 2024 or individuals who are in prison as at 30 June 2024 and on release will be managed by London Probation. These data are based on National Delius (nDelius), the current probation case management system and are broken down by ethnicity.
Data are provided from both the prison case management system P-NOMIS and the probation case management system nDelius. Releases data can be reported from both systems but as they are both large-scale recording systems, they are subject to inaccuracies due to possible errors with data entry and processing and differences between the systems are likely. Whilst the figures shown have been checked as far as practical, as agreed with MOPAC, data are provided from both systems to provide the widest coverage possible of those who were eligible for the pilot.
1. Releases from London Prisons
These data cover individuals convicted of knife crime offences, who were released on licence from prisons within specific London boroughs between 1 February 2019 and 26 February 2024, where the individual was managed by London Probation once released. These dates were requested by MOPAC and cover the period when the GPS knife crime pilot started through to the point where the two-year extension to the pilot was proposed.
Releases are included from London prisons within any of the following London boroughs: Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, Croydon, Westminster, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Camden, Islington, Haringey, Enfield, Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Greenwich, Ealing, Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Barnet, Brent, Bromley and Hounslow.
Individuals managed by London Probation Service are those managed, at the point of release, by London Probation Region or the no longer in operation London Community Rehabilitation Company or London Probation Division.
For the purposes of these data, individuals convicted of knife crime offences are those who have been convicted of an offence involving a knife or a bladed/sharpened weapon where this is specified in statute as part of the wording for the offence.
These data count each unique release within the period shown. As such, an individual with multiple relevant releases, will be counted multiple times within these data. Data for these tables are recorded on the Prison National Offender Management Information System (P-NOMIS) case management system.
Table 1: Age at Release. (Source: P-NOMIS)
| Age Group | Count |
|---|---|
| 18 to 20 | 256 |
| 21 to 24 | 317 |
| 25 to 29 | 249 |
| 30 to 39 | 314 |
| 40 to 49 | 219 |
| 50 to 59 | 129 |
| 60 to 69 | 15 |
| 70 and Over | 4 |
| Total | 1503 |
Table 2: Ethnicity. (Source: P-NOMIS)
| Ethnicity | Count |
|---|---|
| Asian or Asian British | 145 |
| Black or Black British | 612 |
| Mixed | 110 |
| Other ethnic group | 98 |
| White | 495 |
| Not stated | 12 |
| Unrecorded | 31 |
| Total | 1503 |
Table 3: Sex. (Source: P-NOMIS)
| Sex | Count |
|---|---|
| Male | 1503 |
| Total | 1503 |
2. London Probation Caseload
These data cover adult individuals convicted of knife crime offences as at 30 June 2024. This aligns with the most recent probation caseload data published in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Accredited Official Statistics released on 31 October 2024.
As at 30 June 2024, these data cover adult individuals who:
- were in prison and will be managed by London Probation when released or
- have been released from prison on licence and were being managed by London Probation.
For the purposes of these data, individuals convicted of knife crime offences are those who have been convicted of an offence involving a knife or a bladed/sharpened weapon where this is specified in statute as part of the wording for the offence.
Data are as recorded on the nDelius probation case management system and includes both male and female individuals.
The number of individuals are reported with each individual counted once.
Table 4: Ethnicity. (Source: nDelius)
| Ethnicity | Count |
|---|---|
| Asian or Asian British | 44 |
| Black or Black British | 220 |
| Mixed | 45 |
| Other ethnic group | 32 |
| White | 150 |
| Unknown | 35 |
| Total | 526 |
3. Further Guidance and Notes
3.1. For Releases from London Prisons (tables one to three)
Age
The age of individuals within these data are the age at release from custody.
Ethnicity
The ethnicity of individuals is self-declared and as recorded on the Prison P-NOMIS case management system.
Sex
The sex of individuals as recorded on the Prison P-NOMIS case management system. All prisons included in these data are male prisons.
3.2. For London Probation Caseload (table four)
Age
For the purposes of these data, individuals are adults who were aged 18 years or over at the time of release from prison or as at 30 June 2024 if in prison.
Ethnicity
The ethnicity of individuals is self-declared and as recorded on the nDelius probation case management system.
Data Sources and Quality
Data are drawn from administrative IT systems; namely National Delius (nDelius), the current probation case management system and Prison National Offender Management Information System (P-NOMIS), the current prison case management system. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the information collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system due to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures shown have been checked as far as practical.
Appropriate data sources were used for these data, identified through engagement with the Ministry of Justice’s Data and Analysis teams. This release is published for transparency and represents the Ministry of Justice’s ambition to work in partnership with local authorities and other organisations as part of the government’s action plan on anti-social behaviour. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their data. These data are management information and are subject to potential revision in the future.
Contact
Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:
Tel: 020 3334 3536
Email: newsdesk@justice.gsi.gov.uk
Other enquiries about these data should be directed to:
HMPPS Performance Unit
Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ
Email: communityperformanceenquiries@justice.gov.uk
General information about the official statistics system of the UK is available from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk