Knife crime in the South East from January 2019 to March 2024
Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.036874
I note you seek access to the following information:
Q1: How many knife enabled crimes were there last year? (2023) What was the percentage increase or decrease from the year before? (2022)
Q2: How many knife enabled crimes involved an offender under the age 18 last year (2023)? What was the percentage increase or decrease from the year before? (2022)
Q4: How many victims were under the age of 18 last year (2023)? What was the percentage increase or decrease on the year before (2022)?
Q3: How many arrests have been made of under 18s for carrying a knife/crime? How many in: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 so far?
Decision
I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:
Section 21(1) - Information Accessible to Applicant by Other Means
Reason for decision
Please note information relevant to question 1 can be found on the MPS website using the link below and on the attached spreadsheet, therefore, this question is exempt under FOIA by virtue of Section 21(1) of the Act – Information reasonably accessible by other means:
Section 21 of the Act provides public authorities with an exclusion from the duty to disclose information under Section 1(1)(b) of the Act, when the information requested is reasonably accessible to the applicant.
Disclosure
Please find attached information pursuant to your request above.
{Please see knife crime definition contained within the link to ensure that the data is interpreted correctly}