The report estimates that there are approximately 720 county lines across England and Wales. You have accepted additional cookies. (2013). The second major study on desistance is a UK-based analysis known as the Sheffield Pathways out of Crime Study (SPOOCS). In the same time period, 52% of people arrested were BAME, which is an over-representation primarily because of the high proportion of BAME communities in London. [footnote 1], Risk factors are understood to be variables which can usefully predict an increased likelihood of violent crime, drug use, gang involvement, property offences and antisocial behaviour. Other factors (apart from trust) are important in explaining crime. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, table A2.5 in Appendix 2. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales, table A2.1 in Appendix 2. [footnote 36] Also, the data and analysis is skewed by research from the US, where criminal gang cultures are much more salient and deeply-embedded. It also inhibits an analysis of how the relationship between victims and offenders may differ according to ethnicity, crime type and context. Bearing in mind these general patterns, we address what the sample of literature tells us about factors that tend to be associated with these crimes. For example, 2 studies[footnote 48] showed that burglars select the most vulnerable targets based on aspects such as occupancy, wealth, layout, and security (see Table 6 below). Studies in Christian Ethics, 27(3), 318-333. The available data suggests that ethnicity is associated with significant disparities within the CJS that are particularly acute for BAME men above 18 years old in relation to drug offences. , Ministry of Justice (2016). , Tankebe, J. This lack of capacity to undertake fine-grained analysis is a major problem that cannot be easily overcome. Their analysis also identified several protective factors that work against gang involvement (see Table 4). However, an important issue that needs to be taken into account when seeking an explanation for the evident disparities relates to the street-based nature of the crimes under consideration and the prevailing policing practices used in an attempt to control them (for example, stop and search is used heavily to try to prevent, deter and disrupt violent crime, robbery and drugs). , Pyrooz, David C., Jillian J. Turanovic, Scott H. Decker, and Jun Wu. While they can demonstrate broad patterns of disparities in CJS outcomes in relation to ethnicity, such aggregation cannot meaningfully be used to explore why these patterns exist. Does CCTV displace crime? For example, London nominals were reported to be mainly Black. While London continues to have highest volume of knife crime in the country, knife crime rates are lower than 10 years ago (-18%) 4938 % increase in knife crime offences recorded in the West Midlands in 2022. Drug and alcohol dependence, 179, 309-316. Accordingly, longer-term trends in the data suggest that the proportion of drug prosecutions where the defendant is White have decreased from 71% in 2014, to 63% in 2018, while there was an increase in the percentage of Black defendants, from 15% to 21% over the same period. , Phillips, C. and Bowling, B. , Harcourt, B. E. (2006). In this total, 50% were under the age of 25 and the majority (90%) were male. Indeed, the personal histories and perspectives of those who are drawn into the CJS are conspicuous by their absence. (2000). [footnote 40] The literature shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that gang membership can be considered as a risk factor for increased involvement in violent crimes and illegal drugs. While 73% of these offenders were White, only 45% of White offenders subsequently went on to be imprisoned, compared with 66% of BAME offenders in the same year. Of all prosecutions for possession of weapons offences, possession of an article with a blade or point made up 59% of prosecutions. These limitations point to the need for and utility of a relatively large-scale, UK-based, co-produced mixed method study, designed to gather both primary (new) and secondary (existing) data. [footnote 15] However, the likelihood of proceeding at a magistrates court and of being committed to Crown Court for trial were either less or equal when compared with White men. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14, 215-225; Gerard, J. F., Jacson, V., Chou, S., Whitfield, K. C., & Browne, K. D. (2014). This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-report-of-the-commission-on-race-and-ethnic-disparities-supporting-research/understanding-ethnic-disparities-in-involvement-in-crime-a-limited-scope-rapid-evidence-review-by-professor-clifford-stott-et-al, Understanding ethnic disparities in involvement in crime: a limited scope rapid evidence review, Professor Clifford Stott, Dr Matthew Radburn, Dr Arabella Kyprianides and Dr Matthew Muscat. Between year ending March 2011 and year ending March 2018 there was an increase in the proportion of offenders receiving an immediate custodial sentence for a knife and offensive weapon offence,. Statistics relating to convictions and courts are the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. For example, Home Office data in 2018 showed that in England and Wales only 8.2% of crimes recorded by the police resulted in a suspect being charged or court summoned. Policy Exchange's report, Knife Crime in the Capital , reveals the real injustice that at least four out of five gang related homicide victims and perpetrators in London are black or ethnic minority. 21-35; Farrell, G., Tilley N. and Tseloni, A. This work showed that in London in 2017, 50% of knife crime offenders were BAME (up from 44% in 2008). , Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Hough, M., Myhill, A., Quinton, P., & Tyler, T. R. (2012). In this sense, regarding property crime, apart from the key issue of drug addiction, the main risk factors arising from research relate more to situational opportunities and affordances than they do to factors relating the characteristics of the offenders involved. , See Bjerregaard, B. Understanding the causes of knife crime Motivations for carrying weapons Evidence suggests there are three broad explanations as to why people carry knives1: Self protection and fear ('defensive weapon carrying'), particularly for individuals who have previously been a victim of crime.2 Legitimacy and the influence of legal institutions. [footnote 7] Their analysis found custodial sentencing for all BAME men and Black women committing drug offences was particularly disproportionate, but only at Crown Court. Criminal Justice and Behaviour Vol. (2009). For example, Wilson, Stover and Berkowitzs (2009) meta-analysis of several studies found a relationship between exposure to violence and future antisocial behaviour. However, it is likely that the precise pattern of local ethnic disparity will vary across location and relate to the demographic makeup of the local population as this relates to age as much as to ethnicity. Research that has focused on property crime prevention is based primarily on addressing situational factors. Having identified these locations, agreements could be developed with relevant local stakeholders (for example, the police force, relevant local authorities, and NHS) to enable the gathering of primary quantitative and qualitative data in a consistent and comparable way. We do not hold information on ethnicity of knife crime offenders or on stop and searches.. [footnote 17] ASB encompasses behaviours such as noisy neighbours, vandalism, fly-tipping, littering, street drug dealing, vandalism, graffiti, and public drunkenness. However, further analysis by the MOJ[footnote 6] of drug-related offences also demonstrated distinctive disproportionality in sentencing. When relationships between prisoners and prison officers are too close, too informal and lacking boundaries, it can lead to prison officers engaging in acts of corruption. [footnote 87], Late-Onset (LO) Offenders: LO offenders in contrast to LCP offenders seem to begin offending later on life, usually from the age of 21 onwards. Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 18, 417-425; Brennan, I. R., & Moore, S. C. (2009). [footnote 62]. , Farrell, G., Tseloni, A. and Tilley, N. (2011) The effectiveness of vehicle security devices and their role in the crime drop. Criminology and Criminal Justice 11, no. https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/research-reports/teenagers-at-risk-report.pdf, Murray, J., Farrington, D. P., & Sekol, I. Justice Matters: Disproportionality. Over the last 11 years there has been a national decline in the overall levels of police stop and search. , Home Office Report (2019). While there are patterns in the types of underlying types of crime, it would appear that inversely White people are more likely to commit more serious drug offences than BAME people. City. While illustrative, these reports and studies have important and fundamental limitations. According to the sample of reports, ethnicity is not understood to be associated disproportionately with imprisonment for this category of offending. The British Journal of Criminology, 59(3), 571-593. It is therefore unclear as to whether this term refers to those suspected and/or convicted of county lines offences, which contributes to the ambiguity of the findings reported. British Journal of Sociology, 331-350. Second, Hough et al (2013) also tested a revised version of Tylers process-based model among a sample of 52,041 interviewees from the European Social Survey. This study combined quantitative and qualitative methods to obtain an understanding of the processes of desistance among a sample of people who had begun offending in early adulthood. overall, men were 6 times as likely to be arrested as women - there were 20 arrests for every 1,000 men, and 3 arrests for every 1,000 women black men were over 3 times as likely to be arrested. We summarise these below. The most influential longitudinal study in the UK is Farringtons Cambridge Study on Delinquent Development. If. Knife Crime by police force area ONS data shows that West Midlands Police Force recorded the highest rate of 152 offences involving a knife per 100,000 population in 2021/22, a 3% decrease on the rate of 156 recorded in 2020/21. , Brennan, I. R. (2019). It could also involve in-depth interviews with victims and perpetrators of crime, as well as police officers and other relevant agencies and stakeholders. Those that do compare regions tend to do so by comparing London to the rest of England or the UK. The academic literature of risk factors refers to 3 broad types of offenders: Adolescent Limited (AL) Offenders: These are individuals who engage in minor offending or anti-social behaviour into their 20s. , Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2011). However, they were marginally more likely than young White men to be proceeded against and convicted at a magistrates court. Reducing criminal opportunity: vehicle security and vehicle crime. The police statistics show that 41 per cent of those being caught for knife crimes across London's boroughs are now aged between 15 and 19. Homicide Studies, 16 (2), 99-128; McVie, S. (2010). Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour. Violent crime in London: trends, trajectories and neighbourhoods. From this brief review it is possible to argue that a significant overlap exists between the identified risk factors. We then explore how these patterns may be explained in relation to the interrelated stages of a persons contact with, and journey through, the CJS in terms of policing, courts and sentencing. [footnote 63] It is not possible to link its findings to other ethnic groups and to other genders. [footnote 79] It is relevant to focus on some important academic studies in this field because of what they further expose in terms of the situational drivers of crime. It is uncertain whether or not the disparity in rates of imprisonment comes from patterns in different types of underlying offending. RT @rakibehsan: The English countryside is the least of the average ethnic-minority person's worries tbh. Among adults, Black men were about 8.4 times more likely to be arrested for robbery compared with White men. Addictive behaviors, 37(7), 747-775. The prison officer. In turn, these factors are all far more likely among communities in areas of socio-economic deprivation relative to areas of wealth. (2014) Why the crime drop?, in M. Tonry (ed.) Indeed, this was the only offence category where custodial sentencing was consistently more likely for all BAME men relative to the White group[footnote 8] but also for Black women, who were 2.3 times more likely to receive a custodial sentence for drugs relative to White women. Find the most up-to-date statistics about Crime in London . The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) provides information about peoples experiences and perceptions of anti-social behaviour. The data and analysis relating to desistance from crime is limited, particularly with regard to government and public sector reports, and tells us little if anything about ethnic disparities. Pyrooz, D. C., Turanovic, J. J., Decker, S. H., and Wu, J. Consequently, we provide analysis of this issue in Appendix 2. [footnote 50][footnote 51] Evidence exists to show that the installation of electronic immobilisers and improvements in window and door locks contributed to declines in vehicle and residential theft, respectively. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy: An International Journal of Theory & Practice, 12(3), 177-190. Why do people comply with the law? We then moved on to address this category of offending with reference to acquisitive violence. the need for systematic and standardised data capture by police forces and other stakeholders as this relates to crime and levels of offending, an overreliance on summary CJS statistics, a lack of capacity for fine-grained analysis (for example, patterns of offences by geographical area, police contact and use of force data, including logs from call handling centres and geographical deployment of officers and their activity (including stop and search data), localised socio-economic, health, and crime data, hospital admissions and school exclusion data, footage recorded by CCTV or police body-worn cameras, direct observations of police-public interactions (for example, the use of stop and search powers), conducting more randomised control trials and experiments in the UK context, as these research methods are capable of manipulating variables and help to attribute cause and effect (although this would be a longer-term goal), incorporating more ethnically-diverse samples when using quantitative methods, conducting other major longitudinal studies of offending development in the UK with more ethnically and gender-diverse samples, legitimacy (as an aggregated scale) was a significant predictor of cooperation with the police, procedural justice and distributive justice were significant predictors of cooperation with the police, lawfulness was an important predictor of cooperation with the police, perceived police effectiveness reduced cooperation with the police, obligation to obey mediated the relationship between the aggregated legitimacy scale and the individual components of legitimacy, a balanced, trusting and consistent working relationship with at least one worker, meaningful personal relationships and sense of belonging to family, emotional support, practical help and where the worker clearly believed that the young offenders had the capacity to desist from offending, restorative justice interventions which are well planned, formal offending behavioural programmes not meeting individual needs, poor relationships with, and frequent changes of, case managers, a lack of genuine involvement with their case manager in planning for work to reduce reoffending. Victims of knife injuries shared a similar profile with offenders. [footnote 25]. knife crime offences recorded in London in the 12 months to September 22. The Metropolitan police force (London) area accounted for 66% of all Black defendants prosecuted for this offence, compared with 14% for White defendants. Their data indicates that in 2015 there were approximately 4,300 offenders convicted for drug-related offences. For example, one study[footnote 46] found that professional burglars used illegal drugs when committing offences to reduce their anxiety and remain vigilant. , Smith (2004). They can be contacted via email at:. Waples, S., Gill, M., & Fisher, P. (2009). Although crime has gone down sharply over the last 20 years, some types of violent crime (homicide, knife crime, gun crime and robbery) have gone up since 2014, and across almost all police force areas in England and Wales. [footnote 37] This report provides an extensive review of several US and UK qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on youth violence and gang involvement (see Table 3). For example, CJS data can be used to assess the broad overall patterns of criminality and how this relates to ethnicity, but this data does not tell us why these patterns arise. It will take only 2 minutes to fill in. What is perhaps most powerfully relevant about the research on risk factors is that this extensive body of data and analysis suggests very little, if any, relationship between ethnic group and involvement in these types of crime. Gang membership and drug involvement: Untangling the complex relationship. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2019.1685283. These studies demonstrate that trust can impact on offending through the mediating variables of legality and moral alignment. Black victims had the highest percentage of homicides where the principal suspect is a stranger (35%) relative to 21% of White victims, and 26% of Asian and Other (including Chinese) victims. (1985). Knife crime offences across all groups were at the second highest level in 75 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found. 326-352). London: Norton. Youth gang affiliation, violence, and criminal activities: A review of motivational, risk, and protective factors. Such data tells us very little about the actual underlying levels of crime, given that the majority of offending goes unreported. Although these risk factors are based predominantly on US data (and only supplemented by UK data), there is strong evidence supported by several studies of the generalisability of these types of risk factors to the UK. You can change your cookie settings at any time. This is reflected in recent police recorded crime figures published by the ONS which showed a 9% decrease in the number of knife and offensive weapon offences recorded from 38,728 in year. It is reasonable to conclude that this interrelationship between policing and recorded offending exaggerates the extent to which the ethnic categories are then disproportionately understood to be involved in crime more generally (see Bowling and Phillips, 2007).