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

London School of Economics and Political Science
University of Warwick

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.

UN SDGs

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

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Crime
Policing
Gangs
Knife
Homicide

Access to Document

10.2139/ssrn.3521766Licence: Unspecified

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

@techreport{518a8c0bfb7c4eb890cb1127cd528972,

title = "Gangs and Knife Crime in London",

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\%.",

keywords = "Crime, Policing, Gangs, Knife, Homicide, Crime, Policing, Gangs, Knife, Homicide",

author = "Tom Kirchmaier and Steve Machin and Carmen Villa-Llera",

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

year = "2020",

month = jan,

doi = "10.2139/ssrn.3521766",

language = "English",

series = "CEP Discussion Paper",

publisher = "Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), London School of Economics and Political Science",

type = "WorkingPaper",

institution = "Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), London School of Economics and Political Science",

}

TY - UNPB

T1 - Gangs and Knife Crime in London

AU - Kirchmaier, Tom

AU - Machin, Steve

AU - Villa-Llera, Carmen

N1 - An earlier version of this research project was distributed under the title “Murders in London” in July 2018.

PY - 2020/1

Y1 - 2020/1

N2 - 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%.

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%.

KW - Crime

KW - Policing

KW - Gangs

KW - Knife

KW - Homicide

KW - Crime

KW - Policing

KW - Gangs

KW - Knife

KW - Homicide

U2 - 10.2139/ssrn.3521766

DO - 10.2139/ssrn.3521766

M3 - Working paper

T3 - CEP Discussion Paper

BT - Gangs and Knife Crime in London

PB - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), London School of Economics and Political Science

CY - London

ER -