Gangs and Knife Crime in London

Tom Kirchmaier; Steve Machin; Carmen Villa-Llera

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3521766

Gangs and Knife Crime in London

Tom Kirchmaier, Steve Machin, Carmen Villa-Llera

Department of Accounting

Research output: Working paper › Research

Abstract

We describe the socio-economic characteristics of street-gang areas in London, explore gang formation dynamics, and analyse the spatial correlation between gangs and violent crime. Gang areas form in areas with higher unemployment, lower education, and a higher proportion of lone-parent families. Social housing is one of the key predictors of gang areas. Areas that are gang territories have higher levels of crime in various crime categories. Both having a gang in an area and proximity to a gang correlate positively with violent crime. We estimate the short-term effect of disrupting a gang within a borough as decreasing knife crime on ward level by about 15%.

Original language	English
Place of Publication	London
Publisher	Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), London School of Economics and Political Science
Number of pages	27
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3521766
Publication status	Published - Jan 2020

Series	CEP Discussion Paper

Bibliographical note

An earlier version of this research project was distributed under the title “Murders in London” in July 2018.

Keywords

Crime
Policing
Gangs
Knife
Homicide

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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abstract = "We describe the socio-economic characteristics of street-gang areas in London, explore gang formation dynamics, and analyse the spatial correlation between gangs and violent crime. Gang areas form in areas with higher unemployment, lower education, and a higher proportion of lone-parent families. Social housing is one of the key predictors of gang areas. Areas that are gang territories have higher levels of crime in various crime categories. Both having a gang in an area and proximity to a gang correlate positively with violent crime. We estimate the short-term effect of disrupting a gang within a borough as decreasing knife crime on ward level by about 15%.",

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AB - We describe the socio-economic characteristics of street-gang areas in London, explore gang formation dynamics, and analyse the spatial correlation between gangs and violent crime. Gang areas form in areas with higher unemployment, lower education, and a higher proportion of lone-parent families. Social housing is one of the key predictors of gang areas. Areas that are gang territories have higher levels of crime in various crime categories. Both having a gang in an area and proximity to a gang correlate positively with violent crime. We estimate the short-term effect of disrupting a gang within a borough as decreasing knife crime on ward level by about 15%.

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KW - Homicide

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KW - Homicide

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