- More than 1,000 young Black Londoners with little or no evidence of a link to criminal gangs have been removed from the Gang Violence Matrix as a result of the Mayor’s comprehensive review
- The Matrix is now more focused on those most likely to commit violence with the overall Matrix population reaching its lowest total in seven years
- Changes have led to the detection rate improving
- Clearer governance and regular auditing processes have worked to reduce the number of under-18’s on the Matrix database by 70 per cent and reduce its overall population by 40 per cent
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that more than 1,000 young Black Londoners have been removed from the Metropolitan Police’s Gang Violence Matrix and that overall numbers on the database have fallen to the lowest level in seven years.
The Mayor ordered a wide-ranging review of the database in 2017 following concerns in the Lammy review* around how many young Black men were on it compared with their likelihood of offending or their chances of being a victim.
Communities also had deep reservations about how the Matrix operates, including concerns that young Londoners on the Matrix could face sanctions relating to housing and other public services, and inconsistencies in how data on the gangs list was being used and shared.
Sadiq’s overhaul of the Matrix fulfils a commitment he made to Londoners in his manifesto to carry out the largest and most comprehensive review ever conducted into the Matrix and swiftly implement nine recommendations1 to ensure it is as effective and efficient as possible.
Latest figures released today show the Matrix population has also reached its lowest total in seven years - now 2,305 individuals, which is a 40 per cent drop from its peak of 3,811 in August 2017.
New figures also show that the number of under-18’s on the database has fallen by 70 per cent from 493 in 2018 to 146 in January 2021 and, as a direct result of the Mayor’s intervention to make the Matrix more focused on those most likely to commit violence, its detection rate has improved with the proportion of those from the Matrix in custody increasing by just over a quarter. 3
This action is part of the Mayor’s ongoing work to improve trust and confidence in the Metropolitan police by addressing community concerns centred on the disproportionate number of Black Londoners and young men on the Matrix - which was created in the aftermath of the 2011 riots and is used by the Met to identify those at risk of committing, or being a victim of, gang-related violence in London.
Gang-related violence still accounts for a significant proportion of the most serious violence in London: more than half of shootings and nearly one quarter of homicides are believed to be linked to gangs6.
While it continues to be an important tool in the fight against violent crime and gangs in London, the Gang Violence Matrix has proved to be controversial due to a lack of transparency in the way individuals were being added and removed. The Mayor’s original review found that a number of young people were being kept on the database despite a lack of evidence, that there was a reliance on out-of-date information and that there were real community concerns around how data from the Matrix was being shared and with whom. The lasting and damaging impact this could have on young people's lives was raised as well as the impact on communities’ trust in the police and other authorities, with the original review citing concerns from participants about those on the Matrix being singled out for stop and searches by police, housing moves being blocked and even job offers being withdrawn.
Now, following a thorough overhaul, clearer governance and regular auditing processes are working to ensure that the right people are on the Matrix and are being removed when there is evidence they have exited gang lifestyle5 and they no longer pose a risk of violence – helping to reduce the risk of discrimination and stigmatisation and resulting in more than three times as many individuals being removed than added since May 2018. In the last two years alone, 600 Black men under the age of 25 have been removed from the database, leading4 to an 11 per cent reduction in the proportion of young Black males.
City Hall and Met Police analysis shows that the majority of those that have been removed from the database had very low rates of offending and victimisation levels in the year before and the year after being removed – supporting the Mayor’s view that individuals with the lowest harm rating, known as Green Banding, should be appropriately removed.
The Met is also publishing quarterly updates online, and the Mayor has committed to carrying out annual reviews of the Matrix population to monitor changes. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) has also published a progress report on the review recommendations today.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “We simply cannot ignore the fact Black Londoners have less trust in the Met and that is why my comprehensive overhaul of the Gang Violence Matrix is so important to improving the trust and confidence London’s diverse communities have in our police. As a direct result of the Met acting on my recommendations to make the Matrix database more transparent, effective and more evidence based than ever before, more than 1,000 young Black Londoners who should not have been on it have now been removed. At the same time detection rates have improved.
“We know that gang-related violence still accounts for a significant proportion of the most serious violence in London and the Matrix is a necessary enforcement tool as well as a means to support and intervention, but it’s vitally important that the police continue to evaluate, improve and communicate how it is used to address concerns from communities about the disproportionate number of Black Londoners and young men on the Matrix.
“Keeping Londoners safe remains my top priority and while Ministers are refusing to fully refund City Hall and the Met for the money spent tackling the pandemic in London, I am committed to doing everything I can to help tackle crime – including investing £6m in the capital’s first-ever London Gang Exit Programme which is helping hundreds of young people at significant risk of harm from criminal gang activity to turn their lives around.”
Notes to editors
- As part of his ongoing public health approach to divert young people away from criminal gangs, the Mayor has also been supporting young people at significant risk of harm from criminal gang activity through the capital’s first-ever London Gang Exit Service. Since 2016 his £6m investment in the London Gang Exit programme has helped hundreds of young Londoners access safe and stable housing, benefit from specialist support and one-to-one mentoring, and get back into employment, education or training. Between October 2017 and September 2020, the programme has accepted nearly 500 referrals – 287 of whom have reduced or ceased involvement in violence and have been helped to leave the exploitation of criminal gangs. The Mayor’s investment will provide gang exit services to a minimum of 200 new young people from April 2020 until March 2021.
- The Mayor published his Action Plan in November 2020 to improve trust and confidence in the Metropolitan police and to address community concerns about the disproportionality in the use of certain police powers affecting Black Londoners. Working closely with communities and the Met, the Mayor is taking immediate action through this Action Plan to help all communities feel protected and served and address the clear disproportionality in the use of certain police powers on Black Londoners and a lack of transparency and accountability around the way they are being used. Link to published action plan https://www.london.gov.uk/action-plan
- Sadiq has made tackling knife crime and violence his number one priority, delivering on his plan to be both tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime by putting more than a thousand extra police officers on London’s streets since he became Mayor and leading a public health approach to tackling the complex causes of crime through England’s first Violence Reduction Unit. He has also and invested more than £70m to create opportunities for more than 110,000 disadvantaged young Londoners through the Young Londoners Fund which provides constructive activities and help diverts young people away from criminal gangs. As lockdown measured eased this summer he has invested £2.1m in a wide range of positive activities for children and young people over the summer and autumn and £6 million to provide early intervention to prevent young people from becoming involved in or exploited by criminal gangs. The Mayor’s investment also includes a three-year Rescue and Response programme to better understand, target and respond to County Lines with the latest figures showing more than half of the 1,100 young Londoners engaging with the City Hall programme are reducing, or successfully being supported away from, County Lines activity.
1The findings and nine recommendations were published in December 2018: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-publishes-gangs-matrix-review
2An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in November 2018 found that the Metropolitan Police’s use of the Gangs Matrix led to multiple and serious breaches of data protection laws. The ICO has reviewed the progress the Metropolitan Police has made against the Enforcement Notice, and has confirmed that they are satisfied with the changes made and that the terms of the Enforcement Notice have been met. In order to help improve transparency the Metropolitan Police now publish figures for the Matrix quarterly: https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/gangs-violence-matrix/
3The Matrix population has reached its lowest total in seven years - 2,305 individuals in January 2021, which is a 40 per cent fall from its peak in August 2017. Over the same time period the proportion in custody has increased by 26 per cent.
Population: 3811 in August 2017.
Custody: 31.7 per cent in August 2017 to 40 per cent in January 2021.
These show that less people are on the GVM but those that are on it now are more likely to be involved in criminality. Essentially illustrating that it is a better and more effective list.
Graph 1: Matrix overall population over time
Graph 2: Proportion of Matrix individuals in custody
4.There are 600 fewer Black males under 25 on the Matrix in January 2021 compared to January 2019 This equates to a decrease of 34% within that population, and a significant decrease in the proportion of young Black males on the Matrix of 11%.
5Examples of why individuals’ names are removed from the Matrix: There is evidence they have exited gang lifestyle; they are engaging in a diversion program for a period of time (6 months) and haven’t come to police notice since that engagement started; they have not come to police notice for a significant period (12 months) or they have moved away from London and are no longer believed involved in gang criminality within the Metropolitan Police Area. https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/gangs-violence-matrix/
6 Met stats show that 29 per cent of non-DA homicides in 2020 were gang related (24 per cent of all homicides) whilst 69 per cent of lethal barrelled discharges were gang related
Further demographics and breakdown of changes of the Matrix:
- The Mayor’s recommendations were designed to restore trust in the use of the Matrix and ensure it is used both lawfully and proportionately, and to reduce the risk of discrimination.
- The proportion of under-18s has decreased following the Mayor’s review – from 14 per cent in 2018 to 7 per cent in 2020.
- There has also been a reduction in the proportion of under-25s – a reduction from 72 per cent in 2018 to 65 per cent in 2020.
- Overall, the proportion of individuals on the Matrix from a BAME background has remained stable – it was 89 per cent in 2019 and 87 per cent in 2020. Similarly, the proportion of Black African Caribbean individuals on the Matrix has remained stable: 81 per cent in 2019 and 80 per cent in 2020.
- A thorough reappraisal of those with a Green harm banding – including those deemed as having a zero-harm score – was completed in the summer of 2019 and resulted in 488 individuals being removed from the Matrix as there was no longer evidence that they were affiliated with a criminal gang.
- The Mayor’s review recommended an overhaul of how the Matrix operates so that people are added in an evidence based manner and agreements are in place as to who is able to access the Matrix data, so that the ‘gang’ label is not wrongly attributed or follows them – reducing the risk of an individual facing discrimination when applying for housing allowance from their local authority. The Mayor is carrying out annual reviews to monitor the demographics and use of data on the Matrix.
- Link to full report: https://www.london.gov.uk/mopac-publications-0/review-mps-gangs-violence-matrix-update
* Lammy Review: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lammy-review-final-report