Unsolved murders in London 1997-2018

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 …

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 …

Detected and Undetected Homicides 2003-2013

Last month the Metropolitan Police released data on the number of homicides between 2003 and 2013 under the Freedom of Information Act. The data also reveals the number of homicides classed as ‘detected’ and ‘undetected’. Sanction Detections refer to ‘police generated detections’ where the accused receives a punishment or sanction (charge, caution, summons) from the police. Non-Sanction detections (Other) …

The London Homicide Manual

How do detectives investigate a murder? Books, TV programmes and documentaries give us some idea – even if their focus is on a single grizzled cop who solves a homicide single-handed. But what exactly is the ‘procedure’ when that call first comes in about a dead body? As it happens the Metropolitan Police have what …

The Terry Gregory Murder Case

The list of Freedom of Information requests dealt with by the Metropolitan Police can make fascinating reading. The most recent from the beginning of March concern questions about ‘road spike apparatus accidents’, statistics on pickpocketing and the number of victims of knife crime in 2010 and 2011. We have previously featured the Met’s five year …