Gangs and Knife Crime in London
26 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2020 Last revised: 24 Nov 2020
Date Written: January 18, 2020
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
JEL Classification: J11, J18, K42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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