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Knife images in crime prevention communication
Dear Sadiq,
Knife images in crime prevention communication
Following our discussion this morning at Mayor’s Question Time, I am writing to forward the pre-print research recently published by University of Strathclyde in collaboration with the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. [1]
As I said this morning, this research indicates that showing distinctive or “flashy” looking images of knives might influence people to adopt knife carrying. It also shows that knife images have the potential to frighten susceptible young people into carrying knives for self-defence or prompt them in to carrying them because they think it is “cool”.
I welcome that your Violence Reduction Unit, like leading knife harm reduction charities, shows no images of knives on social media.
My recent research found that in the last year, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) circulated more than 2,100 images of knives on Twitter, as can be seen in the attached image.[2]
You said this morning that forthcoming academic research will “hopefully persuade the MPS…to change their stance”. In our discussion, I said that the publication of the Sheffield Hallam University research, that you referred to in your answer, is likely to be delayed for about six months until Easter 2022.
There is a growing understanding of the harm caused by sharing images of knives raised by young people, academics and knife harm charities. Will you use your influence as Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner for London, to call on the MPS to, at the very least, pause the sharing of images of knives on social media from MPS accounts until the research is published and a final decision can be made.
The harm of showing these images is increasingly clear. I understand the MPS needs to communicate to Londoners about their work in communities, but this must be done without the risk of prompting more Londoners to carry knives.
I hope you will make this case to the MPS without delay, to show young Londoners that we are listening to their concerns about this harmful practice.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Russell
Green Party Member of the London Assembly
[1] ‘Are images of seized knives an effective crime deterrent? A comparative thematic analysis of young people’s views within the Scottish context’, https://psyarxiv.com/ma6g2/
[2] Knife images shared by MPS Twitter accounts 2020-21 /sites/default/files/knife_images_shared_by_mps_twitter_accounts_2020-21.pdf
Attached image
The attached image in PDF format has a title of "Over 2,100 knife images shared by Met police accounts on twitter in 2020-21"
The background of the image is a map of London with a blue filter on it.
On top of the map are several boxes with screenshots of images of knife image tweets inside of them but in a small resolution so that the knives themselves cannot be seen.
The boxes are:
Hillingdon 23
Barnet 7
Harrow 10
Ealing 22
Hounslow 16
Richmond 10
Kingston 9
Brent 10
Westminster 36
Hamm & Fulham 2
Wandsworth 6
Merton 9
Enfield 57
Kens & Chelsea 3
Lambeth 4
Sutton 15
Hackney 19
Camden 21
Islington 8
Southwark 9
Croydon 30
Haringey 40
Tower Hamlets 31
Lewisham 11
Waltham Forest 50
Newham 20
Greenwich 21
Redbridge 26
Barking 36
Bexley 7
Bromley 20
Havering 24
Central Met Police twitter accounts:
@MetPoliceUK 15
@MPSFirearms 16
@MPSRTPC 82
@MetTaskforce 229
Including approx. 1,200 knife images shared by local ward team twitter accounts
Related documents
Knife Images shared by MPS Twitter accounts 2020-21
Letter to the Mayor from Caroline Russell on knife images
Response from Mayor to Caroline Russell Knife images report 08 November 2022