Mapping tech to help crackdown on knife crime as part of £26m funding

Precise mapping data, backed by £26 million funding, will be used to crack down on knife crime hot spots, the Government has announced.

Ministers are sharing national mapping technology with police to help them target streets and places where knife crime occurs.

The vast majority of these crimes take place in the same locations, according to the Home Office, which is spearheading the crackdown.

It has announced £26 million will be ploughed into a Knife Crime Concentrations Fund, which will support police to boost operations in knife crime hot spots identified by the mapping technology.

The funding will be allocated to the 27 police forces in England and Wales that deal with 90% of knife crime.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “Knife crime devastates lives and families across the country, and the majority of it takes place on just a small number of streets across the country.

“We will deploy state-of-the-art mapping to identify these hot spots and target them with police patrols, live facial recognition and knife arches to catch these criminals.

“This Government will halve knife crime within a decade, saving lives and protecting communities.”

The mapping system will help officers pinpoint knife crime hot spots down to 100 square metres, and the times it is most likely to occur.

The areas will see increased police patrols, new CCTV cameras, live facial recognition and knife detection arches.

The crackdown comes as part of a wider programme aimed at halving knife crime over a decade.

Ministers are also rolling out a new generation of youth centres as part of a plan called Protecting Lives, Building Hope.

The eight hubs will be based in Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, County Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Tower Hamlets, all areas with high rates of knife crime.

They will be the first among 50 which will eventually be rolled out across England.