Gun crime performance information

Report: 9
Date: 9 October 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report updates the information submitted to the MPA Gun Crime Scrutiny Panel in June 2003 and covers the period April to July 2003.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

1. On 7 February 2003 the MPA Co-ordination and Policing Committee agreed to commission a scrutiny of gun crime in London.

2. As part of that scrutiny, the MPA requested comprehensive data on the use of firearms throughout the capital. In June of this year, the MPS provided a firearms statistical package to the Scrutiny Panel and a further updated version was requested. This report updates (where appropriate) the information presented to the scrutiny panel and the complete data is attached at Appendix 1. The information was taken from existing management information and was produced by the Performance Information Bureau of the MPS.

3. A summary of the key points arising from this data is as follows:

• If the current reduction in firearms offences is maintained based on April to July 2003 data, there are likely to be around 475 fewer offences recorded at the end of the financial year.
• The most significant decrease year-to-date is in the minor category description Business Property. There are 120 less offences compared with same period last year. If this performance continues the figure will be considerably lower than that of 1998/99.
• There are a number of minor categories where there has been an increase in recorded offences year-to-date. Nine categories in total amounting to 31 offences. Actual Bodily Harm accounts for 12 of these.
• Between 1998/99 and 2002/03 there was a 93% increase in the number of recorded offences.
• The borough with the largest decrease in recorded firearms offences compared with the previous financial year was Greenwich with 27 fewer offences. A reduction of 26%.
• The borough with the largest increase in recorded firearms offences in 2002/03 was Hounslow with 39 more offences. An increase of 75%. This compares with an overall MPS increase of 3% for that year.
• The hotspot Boroughs saw an increase of 53 offences or 2.2% in 2002/03.
• The number of offences as a percentage of total notifiable offences over the last three years are:
  • 2000/01 = 0.28%
  • 2001/02 = 0.35%
  • 2002/03 = 0.36%
• Carrying handguns accounts for over half the number of firearms offences by description for the last three years.
• The following Boroughs did not exceed the MPS Judicial Disposal rate for Firearms offences since 2000/01. They are Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. All are designated hotspot Boroughs.

Table 1. - The percentage of recorded victims are shown in the table below. The period covered is the last three financial years.

4. There are three age groups where their percentage has increased in successive years. These are the under 10s, 18 – 25 and 36 –50 year olds.

Table 2. - The percentage of recorded female victims over the last three year period.

Table 3 - The percentage of recorded persons accused for firearms offences over the last three financial years.

C. Equality and diversity implications

This report refreshes the data provided to the MPA’s Gun Crime Scrutiny Panel in June 2003. The format is unchanged from the original request. Diversity issues are monitored and presented to the MPA in other corporate management information reports.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications as all of the data featured in this report is already produced regularly by the MPS.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Raymond Marshall, Specialist Crime Directorate, Information and Planning Unit, MPS.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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