Crime statistics in relation to knife crime in London

Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Authority does not hold the information that you have requested. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) should hold this information, therefore I have transferred your request to them. You should receive a reply from the MPS in due course.

Yvonne Peart
Information Officer

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Dear Hanyu Zhao,

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2009010003191
I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 14 January 2009. I note you
seek access to the following information:

"1. How many crimes have occurred in the last decade involving a
person being stabbed? 2. How many crimes have occurred in the last
decade involving a person being fatally stabbed? 3. If possible,
could I have a percentage breakdown of nationalities of offenders and
victims? 4. If possible, could I have a percentage breakdown of
position of offenders? (broken down by sex, job category and education
level.) 5. If possible, could you let me know the percentage of
offenders who were overseas students in 2007? 6. How many of
offenders were Chinese and how many of victims were Chinese? I
would like the above information to be provided to me as paper copies.
"

Your request will now be considered in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (the Act). You will receive a response within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Act, subject to
the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third
party. In some circumstances the MPS may be unable to achieve this
deadline. If this is likely you will be informed and given a revised
time-scale at the earliest opportunity.

Some requests may also require either full or partial transference to
another public authority in order to answer your query in the fullest
possible way. Again, you will be informed if this is the case.

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet, which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact K. Simmons via the e-mail address at the top of this letter
,quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

Kevin Simmons
Policy and Support Officer
COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision
letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1SF

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 40 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

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Dear Hanyu

Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 2009010003191

I write in connection with your request for information which was received
by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on 14/01/2009. I note you seek
access to the following information:

* 1. How many crimes have occurred in the last decade involving a
person being stabbed? 2. How many crimes have occurred in the last
decade involving a person being fatally stabbed? 3. If
possible, could I have a percentage breakdown of nationalities of
offenders and victims? 4. If possible, could I have a percentage
breakdown of position of offenders? (broken down by sex, job
category and education level.) 5. If possible, could you let me
know the percentage of offenders who were overseas students in
2007? 6. How many of offenders were Chinese and how many of
victims were Chinese? I would like the above information to be
provided to me as paper copies. .

This letter is to inform you that it will not be possible to respond to
your request within the cost threshold. We estimate that the cost of
complying with this request would exceed the appropriate limit. The
appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for agencies
outside central Government; this is set at **450.00. This represents the
estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours [at a rate of **25 per
hour] in determining whether the MPS holds the information, and locating,
retrieving and extracting the information.

A conservative estimate of the time needed to extract the data for all 6
parts of your request would be over 50 hours.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts
as a Refusal Notice.

Section 17(5) of the Act provides:

(5) A public authority which, in relation to any request for information,
is relying on a claim that section 12 or 14 applies must, within the time
for complying with section 1(1), give the applicant a notice stating that
fact.

Section 12 of the Act provides:

(1) Section 1(1) does not oblige a public authority to comply with a
request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of
complying with the request would exceed the appropriate limit.

Under Section 16 (duty to assist) we are required to offer you the
opportunity to redefine your request within the cost limit. Therefore, we
invite you to redefine your request within three months from the date of
this letter. If we do not hear from you by 28/04/2009 we will treat this
request as withdrawn.

I would like to issue some guidance to enable to bring your request within
the cost threshold.

1. How many crimes have occurred in the last decade involving a person
being stabbed?

In line with the Home Office's new APACS definition for Knife Crime, the
MPS has introduced new feature codes for offences where a knife was used
to injure. This code took effect from 01/04/2007. We would be able to
provide Knife Crime data prior to April 2007, detailing injuries sustained
during offences but we would not be able to directly attribute all of
those injuries to the use of the knife. Where a knife is present during an
offence the crime record is coded as a knife crime, although the weapon
itself does not have to have been used. The victim may have sustained
their injuries by other means, such as a punch or use of another weapon.
To accurately state what injuries were directly sustained from a knife we
would have to analyse each knife crime record individually. This alone
would take you request over the cost threshold. Using Knife Crime data
from April 2007 would bring your request inside the cost threshold.

2. How many crimes have occurred in the last decade involving a person
being fatally stabbed?

Though we are able to provide the number of fatalities resulting from a
Knife Crime offence, we would not be able to directly attributed all of
those fatalities to the use of the knife for the same reasons outlined
above. We have created a comprehensive database on homicides from 2002
onwards, with details in which the homicide occurred. Providing data prior
to this point would again require us to look at every recorded fatality
with a knife feature code, individually, to determine if the knife was the
method of killing.

3. If possible, could I have a percentage breakdown of nationalities of
offenders and victims?
4. If possible, could I have a percentage breakdown of position of
offenders? (broken down by sex, job category and education level.)
6. How many of offenders were Chinese and how many of victims were
Chinese? I would like the above information to be provided to me as paper
copies.

We would be able to provide you data for the above, but again only from
2002 onwards, as producing a data run for more years than this is likely
to cause your request to go over the threshold when combined with the
above two questions.

5. If possible, could you let me know the percentage of offenders who were
overseas students in 2007?

We are able to determine if an offence is committed by a person whose
registered occupation is a student, but determining if they are overseas
students would require us to analyse each crime record individually. Again
this part alone would take your request over the cost threshold. Therefore
we would have to reject part 5 under the cost limit as stated above.

In summary we believe that the below request can be achieved within the
statutory time frame for the FOIA;

(1) How many crimes have occurred since April 2007 involving a person
being stabbed?

(2) How many crimes have occurred since 2002 involving a person being
fatally stabbed?

(3) Could I have a percentage breakdown of nationalities of Knife Crime
Accused and victims, as well their sex, job category and education level.

I look forward to hearing from you

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of
complaint.

Should you have any further enquiries concerning this matter, please write
or contact me on telephone number 0207 1613581 quoting the reference
number above.

Yours sincerely

Mark Stanford
Performance Analyst

COMPLAINT RIGHTS

Are you unhappy with how your request has been handled or do you think the
decision is incorrect?

You have the right to require the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to
review their decision.

Prior to lodging a formal complaint you are welcome and encouraged to
discuss the decision with the case officer that dealt with your request.

Ask to have the decision looked at again ***

The quickest and easiest way to have the decision looked at again is to
telephone the case officer that is nominated at the end of your decision
letter.

That person will be able to discuss the decision, explain any issues and
assist with any problems.

Complaint

If you are dissatisfied with the handling procedures or the decision of
the MPS made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) regarding
access to information you can lodge a complaint with the MPS to have the
decision reviewed.

Complaints should be made in writing and addressed to:

FOI Complaint
Public Access Office
PO Box 57192
London
SW6 1TR

In all possible circumstances the MPS will aim to respond to your
complaint within 40 working days.
The Information Commissioner

After lodging a complaint with the MPS if you are still dissatisfied with
the decision you may make application to the Information Commissioner for
a decision on whether the request for information has been dealt with in
accordance with the requirements of the Act.

For information on how to make application to the Information Commissioner
please visit their website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.
Alternatively, phone or write to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 01625 545 700

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