London Launches 'No Place for Knives' Campaign: Westminster and Croydon Get Extra Patrols and Live Facial Recognition

The UK Home Office launched its 'No Place for Knives' campaign in London on November 2, piloting it in parts of Westminster and Croydon, with Birmingham city centre piloting it at the same time. Adverts will appear at tube stations, bus stops and on social media, along with a specially created mural at Boxpark Croydon. (Photo: stock image of the Westminster area.)

The campaign's core message is that police action is stepping up. The Home Office says the adverts are meant to tell those most likely to carry a knife that enforcement in the target areas includes smarter metal detection, rapid-response e-bikes, extra foot patrols and live facial recognition technology. The campaign was developed by the Home Office with police and local authorities, and targets people considered most at risk of committing knife crime.

Funding and the figures behind it

Westminster and Croydon, along with 16 other Greater London boroughs, have received more than £8.1 million from the Home Office's Knife Crime Concentrations Fund for targeted interventions. The Home Office says knife crime has fallen 11% across the UK since the last General Election, with knife-related homicides down 25% and knife-enabled robbery down 18%; in London over the same period the falls are 14%, 34% and 19% respectively. Metropolitan Police Commander Pete Stevens added that knife-enabled crime in London fell by 14.9% in the last financial year.

Policing and Crime Minister Sarah Jones said everyone in Westminster and Croydon deserves to feel safe on their streets; the campaign forms part of the Government's mission to halve knife crime in a decade, combining enforcement with prevention and early intervention to protect young people. The charity Crimestoppers reminded the public that anyone can report information about knife carrying completely anonymously.

Source: UK Home Office announcement, November 2, as reported by multiple outlets.