Charlotte Walker - Cuts = Consequences

Cuts = Consequences

An archivical timeline, 2010-2019, that shows the destruction caused by budget cuts to policing and the increase in knife crime.

2010/11

Police Officers

Reported Knife Crime:

The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

141,850

= 31,000

2010/11

141,850 = 31,000

£6,200,000,000 cuts to ‘wasteful spending’ “The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country.

And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades, to come.”

Chancellor George Osborne has outlined plans to cut £6.2bn of what he calls “wasteful spending” to start to reduce the budget deficit.

Mr Cameron warned that the plans to cut the deficit will have “enormous implications” for the country but that he is determined to carry out the measures in a way that is “open, responsible and fair”.

The PM also said that the action needed to tackle the deficit it would affect everyone and the effects of those decisions will “stay with us for years, perhaps decades to come”.

Speaking alongside new Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, the PM said: “How we deal with these things will affect our economy, our society indeed our whole way of life.

The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades, to come.

It is precisely because these decisions are so momentous, because they will have such enormous implications, and because we cannot afford either to duck them or to get them wrong that I want to make sure we go about the urgent task of cutting our deficit in a way that is open, responsible and fair.”

Tomorrow, Chancellor George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander are set to publish the framework for this year’s Budget and Spending Review which will explain the principles behind the Government’s approach.

2010/11

141,850 = 31,000

Police to expect 20% cut Cuts will mean that thousands of police and one in five prison and probation officers will lose their jobs.

The police face a 20% cut in their budget as it becomes clear that the criminal justice system is set to become one of the biggest losers across Whitehall in today's spending squeeze.

Downing Street's communications chief, Andy Coulson, is believed to have insisted that both the home secretary, Theresa May, and the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, cancel detailed departmental briefings this afternoon explaining the background to their settlements. Both cabinet ministers are believed to have been angered by the decision.

The decision comes as it emerged that Clarke's justice ministry faces a reduction of just under 20% in its frontline staff of prison, probation and court officers and a cut of just over 20% in its headquarters staff.

The total Ministry of Justice (MoJ) job losses of 14,000 out of its 75,000 strong workforce includes an 11,000 reduction in "frontline staff".

A leaked MoJ letter dated last Friday says that 60% of this reduction will have to happen within the next 2 years with an estimated ÂŁ230m in redundancy costs - including 15% compulsory redundancies.

The Home Office budget of ÂŁ10.2bn is also facing a cut of almost 25%. The home secretary is understood to have tried to limit the cut in the ÂŁ5bn a year police grant to 17% but in negotiations with the Treasury has had to settle for a 20% reduction.

The precise impact on police numbers is not yet known and will partly depend on the council tax precepts levied by local government.

However chief constables and police authorities in 8 out of the 43 forces have already warned that cuts on this scale will mean the loss of at least 11,600 police jobs.

Greater Manchester police have warned that 3,100 police jobs are at risk and the West Midlands say 2,100 will have to go.

The internal leaked justice ministry letter makes clear that the bulk of the 14,000 job losses the department faces will have to go in the national offender management service which runs prisons and probation.

A detailed breakdown shows 5,780 jobs going in prisons and probation as a result of policy changes including reform of sentencing and the scaling back of the prison building programme.

2011/12

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

4.2%

Reported Knife Crime:

6.5%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

135,838 = 29,000

2011/12

135,838 = 29,000

More than 2,000 officers forced to retire Government’s demand for 20% spending reduction will mean the loss of many of the most experienced officers in England and Wales

More than 2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015 as forces across England and Wales try to find 20% budget cuts, a Labour survey has claimed.

A series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has disclosed that over the next four years 13 of the 43 forces intend to use an obscure regulation to compulsorily retire 1,138 officers who have more than 30 years of service.

Labour estimates that a further 986 officers could be affected if some of the remaining 30 forces also decide to use the same regulation to find savings.

“Some of these officers are experts in their fields and internationally respected for what they do in the fight against crime,” she said.

“The home secretary must realise that you cannot make 20% front-loaded cuts to the police without losing the very crime fighters we need. The home secretary is taking unacceptable risks with public safety and the continued fight against crime.”

As fully sworn officers of the crown rather than employees, policemen and women cannot be made redundant under existing rules. However, the A19 regulation can forcibly retire officers with more than 30 years’ service on not less than twothirds pension on the grounds of the efficiency of the force.

The latest Labour survey of police authority current plans shows that the jobs of 12,500 officers are to be lost over the next four years in addition to a further 15,000 police staff jobs, confirming the estimate of 28,000 jobs made by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

The Home Office estimated in November that 3,200 officers in England and Wales could be affected if all the 43 forces decided to enforce the compulsorily retirement rule.

The Labour survey suggests that a total of 2,200 are likely to be forced out through this route by 2015, indicating that deeper cuts in police staff numbers or other measures may be required.

Police forces froze their recruitment last year, which saw 2,500 jobs go through natural wastage.

The police minister, Nick Herbert, said there were currently “immense opportunities” to make savings without hitting the frontline.

2011/12

135,838 = 29,000

10% decrease in officers could cause a 3% increase in property crime Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary paper says research has suggested 10% reduction in officers could lead to a 3% rise in property crime

Police forces in England and Wales plan to lose 34,100 officers and staff over the next four years, amid fresh evidence that the cuts will trigger a rise in property crime.

A research paper published alongside the HMIC report will infuriate Home Office ministers who have been arguing there is no direct link between falling police numbers and levels of crime.

The 20% cut in Whitehall funding has been front loaded with two-thirds falling over the next two years, and HMIC say it will be “very challenging to protect the frontline” over the next 18 months.

The first reliable estimate by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary is far higher than previous forecasts of 28,000 made by police staff organisations. Sir Denis O’Connor, HM chief inspector of constabulary, said the reduction in officers and staff being planned was the largest the police had faced in more than two generations.

The paper contradicts this by saying recent research using more robust methodologies has demonstrated a link and that a 10% fall in officers could lead to a 3% rise in property crime.

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the report showed that damage to policing from the government’s 20% cuts was worse than previously feared.

The report says 11,200 jobs – nearly one-third of the 34,100 cut – have already gone as forces make preparations to deal with a 20% cut in Whitehall funding over the next four years.The survey estimates the total police workforce will fall from 243,900 in March 2010 to 209,800 by March 2015.

Officer numbers will fall from 143,800 to 127,600 over the same period, bringing them back to levels last seen in 2001/2002.

The studies suggest that for every 10% fall in police numbers there will be a 3% rise in property crime, but the HMIC paper concludes that it is too early to say that such a link definitely exists and more work needs to be done.But the HMIC report shows that their hopes of restricting frontline policing cuts to 2% every year between next March and 2015 will rest on a “transformation” of the way they work.

HMIC says the 43 police forces plan to cut 16,200 officers, 1,800 police community support officers and 16,100 police staff – a reduction of 14% in the workforce. The reduction in uniformed police officers represents 11% of the 140,000 constables in the country.

2011/12

135,838 = 29,000

6% reduction to the frontline Nearly 6,800 frontline posts have been cut since the general election with 8 forces losing more than 10% of their frontline officers

Nearly 6,800 frontline police jobs have gone since the 2010 general election as a result of spending cuts, according to a House of Commons analysis of updated Home Office figures.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) predicted in July that 5,800 frontline jobs would be lost over the entire five-year parliament, and ministers have repeatedly urged police chiefs to make deeper cuts in their “middle and back office” staff to protect the national frontline.

The figures show there has been an average 6% reduction in frontline policing across England and Wales. But eight forces have lost over 10% of their of their frontline officers, including 16% in Warwickshire and 13% in Nottinghamshire. Only two out of the 43 forces have fulfilled ministerial hopes of using the 20% budget cuts to boost their frontlines through reorganisation.

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, who commissioned the research into the impact of the cuts, said the analysis showed their impact had been faster and deeper than expected. “Police and crime commissioners will be put in an impossible position,” she said.

The 41 elected police and crime commissioners will be legally required to approve budgets, and will be left with little, if any, room for manouevre to reverse funding cuts. The home secretary can order a local referendum if any commissioner insists on an “excessive” increase in the police precept on council tax payers.

“Six thousand eight hundred frontline officers have gone in two years compared to the 5,800 that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate predicted would be lost over five years.

Given the concern over community safety it is no wonder the government is looking for someone else to blame,” said Cooper.

“Holding the elections for police and crime commissioners in November is more expensive too, costing over £100m when that money could have kept more officers in post.

“We know Theresa May will try to hide behind PCCs as communities deal with the serious consequences of [losing] so many officers from our high streets and community beats. Yet it is government decisions which are undermining the ability of the police to fight crime.”

A Home Office spokesman said the HMIC’s original predictions were based on exhaustive work with police forces and covered the period up to 2015.

2011/12

135,838 = 29,000

30,000 Police Officers protest over budget cuts The biggest demonstration by police officers held in England and Wales demanded the government halts its cuts and “privatisation” of the service.

More than 30,000 officers marched through the capital, said the Police Federation, in the only action they are legally entitled to take, in a show of defiance against budget cuts and proposed changes to the service.

In a symbolic nod to the 16,000 officers the federation say will be cut in the next two years, the same number of marchers wore black baseball caps as they walked from Millbank, past the Home Office to Parliament Square.

The last time they carried out a similar march, in 2008, they numbered around 20,000, and the federation said this time it was a display of the anger of rank and file officers faced with cuts to their pay, pensions and changes to their working conditions.

Phil Abbiss, from the West Yorkshire federation, said the demonstration was the voice of officers protesting against the 20% cuts being imposed on the service by the home secretary.

Carrying banners stating “Police for public not for profit”, the marchers booed and slow handclapped as they passed the Home Office. Others chanted “Theresa May, Theresa May, leave our pensions and our pay”. All the officers had taken a day off work to join the protest.

“It is simple, we cannot properly protect the public whilst sustaining losses in police numbers of this magnitude,” he said. “The government’s answer is to privatise us by stealth so the likes of G4S will be patrolling the streets, that is why we are all here today.”

Paul McKeever, the chair of the Police Federation, told the marchers they were “the best police

officers in the world and you deserve far better than the government are currently giving you”.

Many marching said the employment protection they had as crown servants was being removed by the recommendations of Tom Winsor, who has carried out a review of police pay and conditions, which the government has accepted. As such they wanted full industrial rights in return for the loss of their job protection.

A spokesman for David Cameron said: “The Government inherited a very tough fiscal challenge. We are having to make spending cuts across the board.

“We think the reductions in spending on the police are challenging but manageable and that the police will still have the resources that they need to do the important work that they do.”

2012/13

Police Officers

2.9%

The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

131,839

Reported Knife Crime:

13.8%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

= 25,000

2012/13

131,839 = 25,000

5.4% increase in violent crime likley due to budget cuts Burglary and violent crime on the rise in some parts of the country because of the swingeing cuts in police numbers, a police chief has warned.

Cuts in police numbers has contributed to rise in crime, a Police Chief in Lancashire warns.

Acting Chief Constable Chris Weigh of the Lancashire force said the loss of front line officers had resulted in an “inevitable” increase in the number of offences being committed.

It is the first time a chief police officer has attributed a spike in crime statistics to budgetary pressures and will increase calls for the Government to rethink its plans for a 20 per cent cut in police funding.

Mr Weigh, whose force has lost 500 officers so far, said there had been a “significant” rise in certain crimes including house burglary which was up 8.4 per cent and violent crime which was up 5.4 per cent in April compared to the same time last year.

Mr Weigh stressed that while overall crime across the country remained at “historically” low levels, “We are taking 513 police officers off the streets.

Targeting capabilities have been hit, there is a genuine real increase in offending.”

His comments came as former Met Commissioner Lord Blair warned that the Government’s plans could damage the nature of policing and reduce crime prevention work.

Shadow Policing Minister, David Hanson, said: “It is truly shocking that a senior police officer is saying that the Tory led Government’s police cuts are causing some crimes to rise.” “Theresa May and David Cameron were warned they were taking a massive risk with public safety and now we are seeing the results. They need to be focused on cutting crime rather than just cutting the police.”

But a Home Office spokesman said: “The quality and effectiveness of policing is not only about numbers – it is about how well they are deployed.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary have made it clear there is no simple link between the number of front line officers and crime levels.”

2013/14

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

2.6%

Reported Knife Crime:

4%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

128,370 = 24,000

2012/13

131,839 = 25,000

Police numbers fall by further 3,488 officers Police officer numbers are now 15,995 below their historic peak of 144,353 in September 2009 before the election of the Conservative Government

A further 3,488 police officer jobs have been cut over the past year as the home secretary Theresa May’s 20% cut to the police budget have continued to bite.

The latest batch of Home Office police workforce statistics show that total officer numbers in the England and Wales fell in the 12 months by 2.6%, or 3,488, to 128,351 or their full-time equivalents.

Officer numbers are now 15,995 below their historic peak of 144,353 in September 2009 before the election of the current government.

The scale of the reduction in uniformed officers is in line with predictions made when the 20% cut in Whitehall funding for the police was announced as part of the package of austerity measures in 2010 that aimed to reduce the deficit.

The front-loaded impact of the police cuts is confirmed by the official figures which show the largest decrease took place in 2010-11 when 6,012 officer posts were lost, followed by 3,999 in 2011-12 and 3,488 in 2012-13. A further 2,503 were lost in 2009-10, but the budget cuts only took effect for a short part of that year.

The decline in uniformed officers has matched the continuing fall in police staff. Their numbers fell by a further 1,299 in the 12 months to September to a total of 64,961 and are down from their peak of 77,609 in September 2009.

The number police community service officers has also fallen from 16,331 to 13,552 during the same period. That brings the total fall in the police workforce since September 2009 to just over 30,000.

The Home Office figures show that the biggest falls in numbers over the past year have taken place in London where the Met has lost 803 officers; Greater Manchester, 254; and the West Midlands, 231.

Chief constable Mike Cunningham, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead on the police workforce, said: “With reduced recruitment and the considerable cuts made to policing budgets, it is not surprising that the number of officers and staff have reduced and this clearly presents a challenge for the police service. However, the effectiveness of policing cannot be measured by the number of officers alone. The service has risen to the challenge of dealing with significant financial restraints.”

2014/15

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

127,077

1%

Reported Knife Crime:

4.2%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

= 25,000

2014/15

127,077 = 25,000

Metropolitan police say knife crime up 18% in London Availability of knives on the dark web and cultural changes among young people towards carrying knives seen as factors in rising knife violence

Rising knife crime is being caused by a cocktail of a reduction in stop and search, increased sales on the dark web of weapons such as the foot-long “zombie knife”, and a burgeoning culture of youth violence, Scotland Yard police chiefs have said.

Knife crime is up by at least 18%, after years of falling, and 10 youngsters have been stabbed to death in the capitalin the past nine months.

Last week in London, a young person was chased and stabbed to death, and two teenagers were convicted of killing other youngsters in knife attacks earlier this year – including for the stabbing of 15-year-old Alan Cartwright to death as he rode his bicycle.

In an interview with the Guardian, commander Dean Haydon, head of Scotland Yard’s homicide and major crime command, and commander Duncan Ball, head of combating gang crime, said

four key factors were behind the rise. One is the dark web being used to buy weapons, such as the zombie knife which has a foot-long blade.

Another factor being the cultural change among young people that is encouraging them to use knives, even for trivial disputes or minor theft.

Reductions in the use of stop and search aswell as improved recording of knife crime statistics.

Haydon said gang members and young people had told police that reducing stop and search meant it was no longer such a deterrent for those thinking of carrying weapons: “They are not being stop and searched as much as they used to be so the deterrence is less.

“I’m not advocating we go back to the random stop and search of large numbers. If we are targeted and intelligence driven and we have

the confidence of communities, it can be used effectively.”

The police chiefs say officers are seizing not just kitchen knives found in homes, but hunting knives ordered from the internet where there are no checks on who is buying them, such as the zombie knife which Haydon said were “one foot long, with multiple sharp edges, designed to maximise damage if not death.

Ball said there may be a trend among some to carry bigger, more dangerous knives. More perplexing for police chiefs is a cultural shift, with people using knives now after a dispute, where before there would have been a fist fight.

2014/15

127,077 = 35,000

Knife crime across England and Wales has risen for the first time in four years, official figures have revealed.

Recorded Homicides:

539

10% increase in possesion of knife offences

13% increase in assaults with a knife

23% increase in violence against the person cases

2014/15

127,077 = 25,000

Alan Cartwright 15 years old

Victim 5

A normal 15 year old boy, who loved his bikes, family and his friends.

Alan was stabbed in the chest as he cycled along a busy street in Islington, North London, with friends.

The schoolboy known as ‘Little Al’ who adored cycling, Irn Bru and Celtic FC had a white ‘ghost bike’ and the green-and-white-striped jerseys at the shrine built for him by grieving relatives and friends in the spot where he was killed on Caledonian Road, north London.

In a school assignment he wrote before his death, exploring issues of identity, Cartwright wrote of an ambition to join the army cadets, playing football in the park and going out with his friends on their bikes.

‘I realise that now I am getting older but I still need to grow up a lot more. When I was younger I used to get into trouble a lot but not now. Maybe my education and army cadets can help [me] become more mature and stay out of trouble. This will make me my mum and dad very happy.”

Ms Watson, who is a bus driver, said: ‘Alan was just a normal 15-year-old boy - loved his bikes, his family, being out with his friends. He was just a funny little kid, at the end of the day.’

His sister added: ‘His friends have always said he never liked confrontation and was always polite just a happy person. He was amazing, honestly.

I know everybody says about their little brothers they’re little rats. We wouldn’t change him for the world. The best brother.’

His killer, Joshua Williams, was on police bail for possessing a knife. The 18-year-old stabbed Cartwright to death as he tried to steal his bike, and was jailed for life in September.

2015/16

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

1.1%

Reported Knife Crime:

8%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

125,574 = 27,000

2015/16

125,574 = 27,000

Knife crime in Britain soars by 15% in one year Cheif Commisioner claims police cannot maintain public safety with the level of cuts they are facing

Knife crime has soared in Britain, with a 15% rise in attacks, figures revealed today.

In London, there was a 20 per cent rise in attempted murder and grievous bodily harm offences with a knife. However, overall blade offences in the capital remained almost static, at 9,841.

In England and Wales, there was a nine per cent rise in the number of people caught carrying a knife and a 10 per cent increase in knifepoint rapes and sexual assaults. The growing use of blades led to an overall surge in knife crimes of four per cent with 26,535 offences across England and Wales.

The figures — which follow a spate of recent teenage knife murders in London — will prompt renewed concern about rising knife violence.

Met Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe recently admitted that efforts to rein back the use of stop and search had gone too far and had contributed to the rise in knife offending. He said the policy would be reversed and more searches carried out.

Ministers have insisted that better targeting of stop and search, ordered by Home Secretary Theresa May, had produced a better arrest rate and reduced disproportionate targeting of ethnic minority offenders.

The statistics show that the true level of crime is more than double the level previously known because of the inclusion of cyber offences.

Some 6.5 million offences were measured by the British Crime Survey last year, down by 300,000 on last year. However, the addition of 5.1 million

fraud offences and 2.5 million computer misuse crimes mean that statisticians believe up to 14.1 million offences were committed in England and Wales, more than double the previous total.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe warned today that austerity cuts threatened investigations into murder, gangs and terrorism in London.

He also confirmed an independent study that found crime in the capital was shifting towards the east and police needed to move resources to combat the threat.

Sir Bernard’s comments came a day after he warned in the Standard that London’s safety was at risk because austerity cuts could mean the loss of up to 8,000 officers in the capital.

2014/15

Mohammed Dura-Ray

Victim 312

16 years old

A passionate Manchester United fan who was studying for his GCSE’s.

Mohamed Dura-Ray received multiple stab wounds in an attack on Newington estate in Kennington

127,077 = 25,000

Dura-Ray, a passionate Manchester United fan, was nicknamed ‘Moe’ and studied for his GCSEs at Walworth academy.

Living on south London’s Ayslesbury estate, he loved playing football, friends said, and had ambitions to study IT at Westminster college.

The teen’s family had fled wartorn Sierra Leone in 2004, hoping for a better life in the UK. Now, his aunt believes, he would have been safer if he had stayed in west Africa.

‘There’s no knife crime back home,’ his aunt told the Mail after his death. ‘We have a saying in our country: it takes one person to have a child, it takes a whole village to bring up a child. Here it’s not the same, we are scared of our children.’

Jordan Daley, 20, has been charged with Dura-Ray’s murder.

2015/16

125,574 = 27,000

23% rise in youth gang offences in London Police cuts are being blamed for a spike in gang offences 8% rise in serious youth violence

Fears of a renewal in serious youth violence in London are growing after it was revealed that youth gang offences are up 23% in the last year, while a spate of fatal incidents in the last month has once again focused attention on Boris Johnson’s key pledge to tackle serious youth crime in the capital.

“There has definitely been a worrying increase in violence,” said Tom Sackville, head of the gangs prevention unit at social enterprise Catch 22. “Set against a period where there has been a consistent reduction, it appears that we are reversing and going back to a picture we saw a few years ago.”

Figures seen by the Guardian from the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) also show that knife crime with injury is up 14% in the past 12 months, while serious youth violence has increased by 8% in London.

Opponents argue that Home Office-led cuts – the Met has lost 5,655 uniformed officers dedicated to borough and neighbourhood policing since 2010, a 23% decrease – are taking a toll. The increase in violence, was “alarming”, said Joanne McCartney, the Labour spokeswoman for policing at City Hall.

There has also been a 16.5% increase in the number of firearms discharged in the capital compared with the previous 12 months. The increases come after a period of several years where the number of offences has been falling.

“Cuts to integral police roles such as neighbourhood policing undermine the Met’s ability to gather the grassroots intelligence which is vital to tackling gang and knife crime,” she said. “With the Met now looking at axing all of the

capital’s PCSOs, the worry is the situation could get much worse.”

On a Southwark side street in south London, just a few metres from a shrine to Dura-Ray, Eduardo*, 28, said he was 14 when he started carrying a knife He says: “It’s normal for kids to carry knives, they want to feel safe – be the cool guys,” he said.

“The longer your knife, the longer your reach, the better [the] advantage.”

Around the corner from the most recent shrine to a teenager to be fatally stabbed in the capital, Eduardo, now 28, said once violence was a part of young lives, it was difficult to escape. He is still unemployed. “I’m trying to better my life but I need to get off the street,” he said. “But I’m too used to it, I don’t think I can ever let go.”

2015/16

125,574 = 27,000

Rukevwe Tadafe

Victim 25

21 years old

He was a good person who really cared for his family.

He had a heart of gold.

Rukevwe Tadafe, 21, was rushed to intensive care after being found with knife wounds by a bus stop in Molesworth Street, behind Lewisham Shopping Centre, at 8.40pm on Saturday.

DJ and producer Kenny Allstar, 22, from Lewisham, met Mr Tadafe - known as Peanut through his community work at the Adventure Playground youth club in Deptford.

A cousin said “We are all devastated. He was a lovely person. He was a good person who really cared for his family. My parents are with his family now. They are in bits.”

He said: “He was a happy guy with a heart of gold.

I’d visit to do a bit of DJ-ing and he’d always be the one to come up and ask how I was doing.

A relative paid tribute on social media, writing: “I can’t believe that you’re gone. I was talking to you two days before this all happened.

“He was a happy guy, enjoying his life and he loved his friends. His friends and family were number one to him. I don’t know anyone who could say he did a bad thing to them.

“You would do anything for me literally and I can’t believe that you’re not here anymore.

“I’ve lost a lot of friends to knife crime but to hear this news.. I broke down in tears. It’s upsetting.

“His is the second stabbing we have had in the community in the space of a month. No-one should lose their life that young.”

“No more Christmases, no more-link ups, it’s a shame. God wanted you with him and I guess it was your time but you lived a good happy life.”

Another friend wrote: “I’m beyond words right now. When will all this killing each other stop? My heart goes out to his family.”

No arrests have been made.

2015/16

Gary Scott

125,574 = 27,000

Victim 19

17 years old

An honest friend who did not deserve to die. Gary will never celebrate his 18th Birthday.

Gary was fatally stabbed on a basketball court as he returned from a friend’s birthday party.

Fighting back the tears, his sister Derricka Holding, 27, said: ‘My brother was a good boy.

He went to college and was in his second year doing mechanics.

‘I want my brother back, he was only 17, he was a good boy. I just want him back. I just can’t take it.

His aunt Melissa added: ‘He will be missed by all of us. GJ was such a lovely kid and he never gave anyone any trouble. He was a quiet boy.

‘Somebody must have seen something, so please please come forward.

‘Our kids should be burying us, not us burying our kids. Too much young life is being lost.

‘He had been at a friend’s birthday party and came here at about 9pm. We don’t know why he came here.’

‘Please I know somebody out there saw something. Please come forward and tell the police what you know.’

His mother, Annette Gill, made an emotional appeal for her son’s murderers to come forward and give themselves up.

Three friends of Gary, who was previously a pupil at the Greig City Academy, in Hornsey, North London, also paid tribute to him, referring to him as a ‘brother’.

She said: ‘I want to say to the person who killed my son. I am a mother and I forgive you. Please just come forward. Please I’m appealing, I’m begging you to come forward. Please, my son was only 17.’

A female friend, who wouldn’t give her name, said: ‘He was a good person, a lovely boy - he didn’t deserve to die. He was an honest friend.’

2016/17

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

2.2%

Reported Knife Crime:

25%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

122,859 = 34,000

2016/17

122,859 = 34,000

Homocide levels are continuing the increase with Knife related deaths continuing to be the main cause.

Recorded Homicides:

695

38

of these were aged 16 and under

213

were killed with a knife or sharp instrument

11%

increase on the previous year (2015/16)

2015/16

Vaso Kakko

Victim 18

17 years old

A lovley nice guy who was always happy and smiling.

A brother and a son.

Vasso was found by members of the public but pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services were called in North London.

125,574 = 27,000

His brother, Bruno Kakko, said: “He was just a lovely, nice guy who was always happy and smiley and loved playing around alot. He was always very generous to his friends and family.

“He loved going out a lot, he was not a stay-athome type. We just can’t get our heads round it at the moment. We have no idea who would target him.”

The Spurs and Barcelona fan was the eighteenth teenager to be murdered in the capital this year and tributes today poured in on social media for the youngster.

Rico Suave tweeted: “RIP Vaso Kakko, the good die young.” While another user, @yasmineb_ said: “My heart goes out to his family & friends, couldn’t begin to imagine what they’re going through… r.i.p Vaso x”

2016/17

122,859 = 34,000

4 year high of knife crime in London Fear of violent crime is encouraging young people in London to carry knives, resulting in a rise in stabbings, a police and crime report suggests.

In June 2012 there were 1,719 recorded stabbings of people aged under 25 in the capital compared with 1,749 in August 2016, the report found. It said gang activity accounted for less than 5% of London knife crimes.

Steve O’Connell, one of the report’s authors who leads the Police and Crime Committee (PCC), said: “This is significant, because not many people realise that if you only look at gang violence you won’t make much difference to what is happening with knife crime.”

The PCC report suggests the dominant driver for young people carrying knives, “appears to be a belief that they need to be prepared to defend themselves.” It says fear can also be fuelled by awareness of stabbings in their community.

“If a serious incident occurs, there needs to be a concerted effort by the police and other agencies

to reassure young people that they are safe,” the report says.

In July, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced £400,000 funding to help tackle knife crime.

The Met Police said knives were involved in about half of all serious youth crime recorded in London last year, and about a quarter of those victims were girls and young women.

A spokesman for his office said he would carefully consider the findings of this report and next month he would host a knife crime summit.

“We know that if you carry a knife you are far more likely to get stabbed, probably with that knife,” Matt Watson, of the Integrated Gangs Unit added.

Graham Robb from youth charity Redthread said knife crime tended to show “spikes of volatility” and this rise could be an example of such a spike.

The Met Police said most youth knife crime was committed with regular knives that were readily available in the home.

It said intelligence led stop and search was critical to removing those knives from the streets.

2016/17

Elijah Dornelly

122,859 = 34,000

Victim 12

17 years old

Wherever he set foot a joyful bubble followed him every step of the way.

The 17-year-old victim’s intestines “were spilling out of his belly” when he ran into a cafe after the attack.

Elijah died just half a mile from his home. A GoFundMe page set up by Dajana Fabiola to raise money for his funeral described him as “an amazing personality” with a “gleaming smile that would lighten the misery of each day”.

“Wherever he set foot a joyful bubble followed him every step of the way [and] now he leaves us without a warning, farewell or goodbye. We all sit here shattered in regret, sorrow and pain, questioning why,” it said.

The teenager’s family, including his younger sister, were last night in mourning at their home, half a mile away from where their “much loved” son was killed.

A family friend said: “He was a lovely boy, he was always round my house and looked out for my daughter.

“You have to know where your kids are all the time, and even then it might not be safe.

“It’s a shock to our whole community. A lot of people assume he was in a gang but that’s not the case - he was always polite.”

Her daughter, 16, added: “He was funny and silly and would always want to make you laugh. He would always be with his friends they loved him and were so important to him. His younger sister is heartbroken - she looked up to Elijah so much.”

A classmate at Kelmscott School said: “Everyone there loved him, he was the one guy that lit up the room, he was so funny, cheeky and smart when he put his head down.

“He knew how to make people smile. Everyone has been affected by this, in no way would we have imagined him to leave the world like this.”

2017/18

Police Officers

0.7%

The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

121,929

Reported Knife Crime:

17%

This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

= 40,000

2017/18

121,929 = 40,000

The number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales 2017/18 was the highest since records began in 1946, official figures show.

Recorded Homicides:

728

34% were men aged between 16 and 24

39% were cases involving a knife or sharp instrument

32% of male homocides took place on the streets

2017/18

Daniel Frederick

Victim 4

34 years old

He was a hard worker, a loving father, a caring brother and a dutiful son.

Daniel, 34, was stabbed seven times by the masked gang who then left him for dead outside Burns House in Shakspeare Walk. He was attacked in front of children and pregnant partner.

121,929 = 40,000

His brother, Bruno Kakko, said: “He was just a lovely, nice guy who was always happy and smiley and loved playing around alot. He was always very generous to his friends and family.

“He loved going out a lot, he was not a stay-athome type. We just can’t get our heads round it at the moment. We have no idea who would target him.”

The Spurs and Barcelona fan was the eighteenth teenager to be murdered in the capital this year and tributes today poured in on social media for the youngster.

Rico Suave tweeted: “RIP Vaso Kakko, the good die young.” While another user, @yasmineb_ said: “My heart goes out to his family & friends, couldn’t begin to imagine what they’re going through… r.i.p Vaso x”

2017/18

121,929 = 40,000

22% rise in knife crime in England and Wales Data from hospitals reveal a 13% rise in the number of people admitted with stab wounds compared with the previous 12 months.

More than 4,000 victims of knife attacks were hospitalised between May 2015 and April 2016.

The rise in serious stabbings, reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is greater than the 11% increase in knife crime recorded by police, which includes less serious offences such as possession.

The figures provide yet more evidence of a knife crime epidemic and will lead to calls for fresh measures.

Last month Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the outgoing Metropolitan police commissioner, declared the “warning lights are flashing” after annual crime statistics revealed a 22% increase in violent crime, which includes the 11% rise in knife offences.

The ONS data casts doubt on the Home Office stance that the increase in knife crime in police statistics “largely reflects improved recording practices and a greater willingness of victims to come forward”.

“Knife crime is rare and most people will never be a victim,” said Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies think tank. “But these figures do suggest the problem might be getting worse.”

Of violent crime in general he added: “If you dig deep into the official data, you find that violent crime started increasing several years ago, driven by increases in violence against women.”

Sarah Newton, minister for vulnerability at the Home Office, said: “We know there is more to be done.”

2017/18

Osman Shidane

Victim 68

20 years old

Osman was the eldest of seven children who would “do anything” for his family.

Osman was stabbed three times - in his right thigh, his right arm and the fatal wound, about four inches deep, to his neck just below the ear.

121,929 = 40,000

Last night, his family described how Mr Shidane was the eldest of seven children who would “do anything” for his family.

Nasteho Shidane, 17, one of his five sisters, told the Standard: “He wanted to support his family. He was a family man - he was caring and compassionate, he was selfless.

“He was very outgoing and naturally got along with everyone.”

Mr Shidane, whose parents are Somali, was born in Denmark but had lived in London 15 years.

The Arsenal fan, who worked in sales for a utilities company, had dreamed of setting up his own business, his sister said.

2017/18

121,929 = 40,000

Police suffer real term 19% cut to budget since 2010 Policing at ‘tipping point’ over budget cuts, warns police chief.

The violent crime figures paint a picture of the struggle the police face to meet demand.

Policing has been left at a tipping point by government cuts and is on the verge of failing the public and struggling to detect crime, a senior police chief has said.

“The public’s experience is policing that is less visible, less responsive and less proactive,” he wrote in a post on the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) blog.

“Core aspects of policing – such as answering calls, attending emergencies, investigating crime, bringing offenders to justice and neighbourhood policing – are being pushed beyond sustainability, and are in danger of becoming ineffective, to the detriment of confidence in the police.”

Thompson, who leads on finance and resources for the NPCC, took aim at the Conservatives’ approach to policing since they came to power.

“The government has had a partial view of policing in the last few years,” he wrote. It was very interested in terrorism and high-end threats but less focused on local crimes, which had been left for forces and police and crime commissioners to manage amid steep budget cuts.

“This more local agenda has many positives in setting priorities but it has come with steep budget reductions and a widening mission,” he said. “There has been a real-term reduction of police budgets of 19% since 2010, but ranging between 11- 25% across forces.”

Thompson said police had improved in the fight against terrorism and serious and organised crime.

“But the gains we’ve made have come at a cost to perhaps the most important parts of policing for the public.

“Crime is rising and so is the demand on our service. The calls do not get answered as quickly as they did. Officers are not as fast at responding to emergencies and more crimes are dealt with on the phone. Fewer high-volume crimes like thefts are investigated and as a result fewer offenders brought to justice. The visibility and proactivity of neighbourhood policing is much reduced.”

He added: “Bluntly, our ability to manage the big threats and protect the vulnerable, yet still be the traditional police the public want and need, is becoming ever harder. We are in danger of pursuing efficiency to the point of ineffectiveness, where we can process the work but we’re not detecting crime as we should be and not meeting public expectations. Thompson said all this was putting a strain on officers and is letting victims down.

2017/18

Jay Sewell

121,929 = 40,000

Victim 130

18 years old

He was the most wonderful grandson I could have asked for.

Jay Sewell died after a fight in Lee in the city’s southeast shortly before 10pm on Tuesday.

Sharon Louch, Jay Sewell’s mother said: “It breaks my heart to know that Jay will never be able to fulfil his dreams.

“He is my first thought when I wake up and last before I go to bed. I try my hardest to shield my children from the pain, but I can’t do it. They all know they will never see their brother again.

“It’s been nearly ten months since that day in December, each one proving as hard as that before it. The trial lasted for what seemed an eternity [16 weeks] – I pray I never have anything to compare it to.”

She went on: “There is no sentence this court or any other can pass which can come close to healing the pain or make up for not being able to look at my Jay’s face or hear him laugh.

I haven’t come here expecting or wanting it to.

However it does provide a glimmer of hope that those responsible have been held to account for their actions.

“Jay: you were a blessing and made us proud from the day you came to us until the moment you were taken.”

The court heard how, in the week before the attack, Daniel Grogan had become increasingly jealous of Mr Sewell - who was dating his exgirlfriend - and had made repeated threats to kill him. He also attacked his girlfriend two days before the fatal attack.

2017/18

121,929 = 40,000

More than 11 serious stabbings happen in the UK every day The new statistics come after a spate of violent crime in the first three months of 2018.

The figures, which cover crimes recorded by the police, also showed an 11% increase in firearms offences.

A separate survey on the public’s experience of crimes in the two countries said there had been no change in overall violent offences.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) said most types of crime stayed at similar levels to 2016.

It added that eight-in-10 adults had not experienced any crimes asked about in the survey throughout 2017.

While some of the increases in recorded crimes are explained by changes in the way police report them, the ONS warned that some of the statistics showed a genuine rise in the offence.

For example the 9% increase in burglaries and the 33% increase in robbery.

Recorded homicides were also up by 9% in 2017, to 653 from 599 the previous year.

However, when the victims of terror attacks in London and Manchester are included in the 2017 figures, and those who died in Hillsborough in 1989 - which were ruled as manslaughter by a coroner in 2016 and included in that year’s figures - the number of recorded homicides fell slightly between 2016 and 2017 from 695 to 688.

Alexa Bradley, who focuses on crime statistics and analysis for the ONS, said the two sets of figures showed the “picture of crime” had been “fairly stable”, with levels much lower than the peak seen in the mid-1990s.

But she said the “high harm” offences, such as homicide, knife crime and gun crime, were on the up, which was “a trend that has been emerging over the previous two years”.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the rise in these violent incidents was “unacceptably high”, and they were “a national problem that required national solutions from the government”.

In the first 100 days of 2018, 52 people were killed in the capital - many of which were stabbings - raising serious concerns about how to tackle violent crime on the city’s streets.

2017/18

121,929 = 40,000

Wilham Mende

Victim 200

25 years old

An outstanding young man who came to the UK in futherance of a promising career.

A group of four had stopped restaurant porter Mr Mendes as he walked home from work, took his bag and then chased him into an alleyway. He suffered “catastrophic” knife injuries and bled to death as the boys ran off with his possessions.

DS Devan Taylor said: “This was a tragic case.

Wilham Mendes was returning from work when he was attacked. He was an outstanding young man who came to the UK in furtherance of a promising career.

“He was in the prime of his life with a bright future ahead of him, only for that future to be snatched away by a group of boys who had set out that night to rob and steal from anyone who had the misfortune of crossing their paths.

“Their behaviour was truly shocking and they showed no regard for another person’s life that night.

“But it doesn’t end there. The Mendes family now have to live with his loss and the four defendants will live the remainder of their lives with the stigma of criminal record, and the death of a man on their conscience.“

2018/19

Police Officers The number of police officers serving across England and Wales during the year March to March. This number includes all types of police staff.

0.3%

Reported Knife Crime: This represents the number of reported knife and sharp instrument related crimes in England and Wales across the year March to March.

122,406 = 44,000

10%

2018/19

122,406 = 44,000

Homicides in England continued to rise and reached highest level in a decade in 2018/19. However, Knife related homocides did begin to slow.

Recorded Homicides:

726

285 involved a knife or sharp instrument

97% out forces saw a rise in knife crimes since 2010

1/4

of victims are males aged between 18-24

2018/19

Debbie Twist

Victim 78

47 years old

Debbie wasn’t just a mum.

She was our best friend and a friend to many.

Debbie Twist was stabbed to death at her home in Leigh, Manchester, on 17 March.

122,406 = 44,000

Debbie left behind three children, one son-in-law and three grandchildren.

Paying tribute to Debbie, her children Beth, Jordan and Mark said: “Debbie wasn’t just a mum. She was our best friend and a friend to many.

“She was the best nanna to Elise, Myla and Maisie and mother-in-law to Adam.

“She was the much loved sister of Brian, AnneMarie, Kelly and Sean.

“She was taken from us too soon and under tragic circumstances. She will be missed by everyone.

“We would like to thank everyone for their kind words, cards, condolences and flowers.”

2018/19

122,406 = 44,000

59 knife related crimes are reported each day The number of crimes related to knives and other offensive weapons dealt with by the criminal justice system reached a nine-year high in 2018, figures show.

The Ministry of Justice reported a total of 21,484 offences in England and Wales, the equivalent of 59 every single day.

Of all those convicted or cautioned, just over a fifth were under 18.

The figures show 37% of all offences led to an immediate jail sentence, compared with 23% in 2009.Cautions and fines are only half as likely to be used now as they were in 2009.

The annual figures have been published following a spate of fatal stabbings, including the killings of three 17-year-olds in less than a week earlier this month. And it is a day after police have been promised an extra £100m by the government to help them tackle a knife crime in England and Wales.

The government has said offenders are now more likely to go to jail for knife or offensive weapons crimes.

The average length of custodial sentences classed as “immediate” - therefore not including suspended sentences - was 8.1 months last year.

That is the longest average term since comparable records began in 2008.

Justice Minister Rory Stewart said: “Knife crime destroys lives and shatters communities, and this government is doing everything in its power to tackle its devastating consequences.

The MoJ figures cover not just knives, but other offensive weapons such as deliberately broken bottles and sharpened screwdrivers.

“Sentences for those carrying knives are getting tougher - they are more likely to be sent straight to prison - and for longer - than at any time in the last decade.”

Responding to the figures, Labour’s shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: “Surely the Tories don’t need any further evidence that not enough is being done to tackle knife crime?”

She called on the government to “stop talking” about its approach to fighting knife crime and said it should instead “properly” fund the police and youth services.

2018/19

Wilham Mende

122,406 = 44,000

Victim 90

25 years old

He always had the biggest smile on his face, it’s what he was known for.

Calvin Bungisa, 22, was chased by several suspects and murdered in Kentish Town, London. Witnesses described seeing four hooded attackers in white masks standing over Calvin.

Calvin Bungisa, who was killed in Kentish Town last night, has been described as a ““happy, respectful” man by his former football coach.

He told the New Journal that Mr Bungisa’s 51-year-old father had died a year ago and the family is now grieving again.

Thomas Looney coached the 22-year-old for five years when he was doing coaching work on the Malden Road estate, in Kentish Town, 15-yearsago.

Mr Bungisa said of his nephew: “He was a very good boy.”

“I knew his older brother and cousins, and then he started to come along as well when he was eight years old.

“He always had a big grin on his face, a massive smile, and had a lot of respect for people.”

Thomas, who now coaches Kentish Town FC, said: “Even when I saw him a few months ago, he’d come up and say hello,” he said.

His uncle Jean Bungisa, a bus driver, said he heard the news when he got home from work last night.

K, a childhood friend, told the New Journal he saw Calvin – known to friends as “C” – less than half an hour before the attack.

He said: “We knew each other from really young, grew up together, chilled together. He was a joker always and had a mad smile on his face.

“He wasn’t an angel, but who is right? I saw him less than half an hour before it happened and all I’ve been able to think is what if I never left when I did. Maybe he’d still be alive.”

2018/19

122,406 = 44,000

Police numbers have dropped by 21% since the 2010 budget cuts After accounting for the growth in population, the number of police officers per person has fallen by around 19%.

That drop of 20,600 represents a 14% fall since 2010. After accounting for the growth in population, the number of police officers per person has fallen by 19%.

Policing is local too, though. If you live in Merseyside, you won’t be directly affected by what’s happening to police numbers in Gwent.

The staffing picture varies across the 43 police forces of England and Wales. 27 forces have gained officers in the year to March 2019, with Kent Police seeing the biggest rise in numbers (a 9% increase). 16 forces have lost officers, with Surrey seeing the biggest drop (a 6% decrease).

You can check your area by looking at table H5 here, and to compare with previous years A1 of this House of Commons Library research.

However, There’s no hard and fast definition of who fits that description.

The official definition has changed several times.

At the moment, officers are categorised as one of frontline (like response teams, neighbourhood policing and front desk roles), frontline support (such as intelligence), business support (such as training) or not coded (such as national policing).

Using that breakdown, there are an estimated 16% fewer ‘frontline’ officers since 2010. After accounting for population growth, the number of frontline officers per person has fallen 21%.

Again, that varies. Police forces structure and record their roles differently so it’s tricky to compare them directly, but in March 2019 Warwickshire police had seen a 45% fall in frontline officers compared to 2010, while at the other end of the scale, Surrey has seen a 4% increase.

2018/19

122,406 = 44,000

England and Wales police funding rise of £970m ‘not enough’ Despite ‘biggest increase since 2010’, some forces say they are barely making ends meet.

The government has announced an additional £970m in police funding for 2019 but was met with immediate criticism that the amount was too low and risked further falls in officer numbers.

decision by the Treasury. That leaves money raised from local council taxes to fund extra costs from inflation. New funding for more officers or fighting crime will only then be available.

Ministers will allow increases in local taxes to fund policing, and have increased some direct grants they make to the 43 forces in England and Wales.

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has previously accepted police were overstretched and needed more resources. That represented a reversal of the government’s stance that police were adequately funded, which had been the view first of Theresa May as home secretary and of her successor, Amber Rudd.

Politicians overseeing the two biggest forces said it was not enough and officer numbers could still fall lower.

such as child sexual exploitation and modern slavery. The challenge from serious and organised crime networks is growing.”

He continued: “Through the Serious Violence Strategy, we are bearing down on the worst spike in serious violence and knife crime that we have seen in a decade by combining support for more robust and targeted policing with effective long-term investment in prevention and earlier intervention.”

The government said it was giving more money to tackle serious and organised crime and again announced an increase in counter-terrorism funding, which was first unveiled in the budget.

In a letter to Yvette Cooper, the chair of the home affairs committee, Javid said growing demands on officers meant the extra funding was necessary.

Javid said it was the biggest increase in police funding since 2010, when the Conservatives came to power and started cutting the funds central government made to policing.

Early analysis suggests the extra money from central government will be swallowed up by extra pension costs forces will have to pay after a

“It is clear that demand pressures on the police have risen this year as a result of changing crime,” he said. “There has been a major increase in the reporting of high harm, previously hidden crimes

The new head of the Police Federation, John Apter, has warned that forces across the country are in crisis and the public are suffering as a result of falling headcounts and increasing crime.