High knife crime hotspots to see surge in police patrols, knife arches and Live Facial Recognition to catch perpetrators
The vast majority of knife crime happens in the same place and same street, over and over again. The government is investing over £26 million into the Knife Crime Concentrations Fund to support these surges in activity in the 27 police forces whose areas account for 90% of knife crime in England and Wales.
To enable this, the Home Office has shared new national mapping technology which identifies the highest knife crime hotspots down to a precision of 0.1 square kilometres. Using micro-geography, the police can pinpoint the specific streets and times when knife crime occurs.
These areas will see a dramatic surge in police activity to catch these criminals, such as increased police patrols, new CCTV cameras, Live Facial Recognition deployment and the installation of knife arches.
This comes as earlier this week, the government launched its plan to halve knife crime within a decade. Titled “Protecting Lives, Building Hope”, it will save lives, transform the futures of young people and protect communities across the country.
To tackle knife crime, the government will support young people so they get the best start in life, stop those at risk from turning to knife crime and police our streets to catch and punish perpetrators.
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said:
Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust and member of the government’s Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime said:
Shanine Wright, knife crime campaigner, and Bristol-based member of the government’s Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime said:
The government has also announced a range of measures to better support young people and divert them away from knife crime.
Among the interventions outlined in the plan are: