The Huntingdon prepare assault is the most recent high-profile incident to position a highlight on violent crime, and knife crime particularly.
But check out the figures and there doesn’t appear to have been a latest surge in violent crimes. In reality, fairly the alternative.
There are varied ways in which violent and knife-related crime could be measured. Here, we’ll have a look at three key measures throughout England and Wales.
The greatest strategy to measure tendencies in violent crime total is thru the Crime Survey for England and Wales, run by the Office for National Statistics.
This asks a consultant pattern of the inhabitants about their experiences of crime, so it ought to seize crimes even when they don’t seem to be reported to police.
The outcomes of this survey present violent crime is down by 11 per cent up to now 5 years, from an estimated 1.23 million incidents within the 2019/20 monetary 12 months, earlier than the Covid lockdowns started, to 1.1 million in 2024/25.
The longer-term development reveals an excellent better fall, with violent crime down by 40 per cent over the previous 15 years.
Home Office figures additionally present us the variety of knife crimes recorded every year by police forces.
Here, the numbers have additionally fallen not too long ago, down by 5 per cent over the previous 5 years.
Longer-term, the variety of recorded knife crimes has risen by 58 per cent up to now 15 years. However, the ONS says this may partly be due to improved recording.
Lastly, we will have a look at the variety of folks hospitalised after being assaulted with a knife or sharp object. This measure is helpful because it’s not affected by adjustments to how police document crimes.
Here, numbers have fallen markedly, down by 26 per cent up to now 5 years.
The admissions are at their lowest degree for the reason that ONS’ information started in 2012/13.
So whereas particular person high-profile assaults rightly trigger large public concern, the general development for violence and knife crime in recent times seems to be a downward one.
Image credit score: Toby Shepheard/Story Picture Agency/Shutterstock
