Earlier this year the Metropolitan Police released figures showing there were a total of 393 unsolved murders between 1997 and 2018 (or using their definition, ‘undetected’). The number of undetected murders peaked in around 2001 before decreasing to single figures between 2011 and 2015, then increasing again to a new peak in 2018. The percentage …
Category archives: Statistics
Domestic Murders 2012 to 2018
Domestic homicides – that is murders and manslaughters where the killer and the victim are either partners or family members – tend to account for 20 per cent of the total every year. However there is a lot of variation over time which does not necessarily follow the general trend. For example, in 2017 there …
Murders up or murders down? The strange world of homicide statistics
Did the number of murders in London increase or or decrease last year? It depends whether you mean calendar year or financial year.
Cuts to the ‘Murder Squad’
The Metropolitan Police unit responsible for investigating murders* in London was cut by nearly 40 per cent between 2004 and 2017 (see table below). Figures obtained via a Freedom of Information request show the Homicide and Serious Crime Command (HSCC) reduced in total strength almost every year over that period. The sharpest fall was from …
Police refuse to release list of murder victims
The Metropolitan Police is now refusing to release full lists of murder victims under the Freedom of Information Act – making it more difficult to check their figures. Previously requests along these lines have been successful, such as the data featured in the Guardian article ‘Five years of London murders listed‘ and on our blog The Met’s …
Continue reading “Police refuse to release list of murder victims”