Robberies with knives drop in UK hotspots as drones and dogs used by police

Robberies using knives have dropped in hotspots across England, data released today shows.

Months of targeted action has led to a sharp fall, with the West Midlands recording 25% fewer cases in the year to June, the Home Office said.

Drones, knife arches and detection dogs were put into action across seven areas which accounted for 70% of robberies involving a blade in England and Wales. It comes after girl, 3, was found dead on beach by a horrified passer-by.

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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “When we came to office, knife-enabled robbery was increasing at a concerning rate. But we have now started to drive numbers of those offences down through the work of our dedicated taskforces, and as a result, we have also seen the first small reduction in overall knife crime for four years.

"The drop in knife enabled robbery in key problem areas shows the impact that our strong new action on knife crime is having, but we now need to supercharge these efforts through more smart and targeted interventions."

Between 2023 and 2024 there was a 14% increase in robberies involving knives across seven police forces - The Met, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Avon and Somerset, South Yorkshire and British Transport Police. Ms Cooper set up a dedicated police taskforce last October.

This has been credited with a 6% overall annual reduction in nine months. Just one area - Greater Manchester - saw a rise of 4%.

In London knife-enabled robberies fell by 2%, and British Transport Police recorded a drop of 24%.

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