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This paper examines the underlying issues behind the London killings of 2018 and considers some possible solutions. To do this, primary research has been undertaken with those involved in the violence, those charged with addressing it and those seeking a solution to this crisis. Violence among young people in the capital and elsewhere in Britain has been the focus of much media attention and academic discourse, some of which are examined here. In understanding the causes of the violence, it is, however, incumbent on us all to consider viable ways in which to address the issues behind the killings and identify possible solutions to the problems it creates in communities. The introduction, in January 2019, by the present Home Secretary of knife crime prevention orders appears to have aggravated the situation. Already known as Knife ASBOs (Guardian in Knife ASBOs won't cut crime, but the will harm vulnerable young people, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/01/knife-asbos-crime-young-people-sajid-javid, 2019), these may simply criminalise a group of youngsters, sometimes as young as 11 or 12. Police are already able to tackle criminal behaviour among youngsters carrying knives through dispersal orders. This response by the Government has not addressed the root causes of the issue. As one respondent was to state: We have to find a way through this. It's killing us. Not just the kids who are killed: it's the people that get left behind. Something must be done to stop it. (R: 16, 13 November 2018) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a new method to gauge eighteenth-century crime. It counts the crimes committed against metropolitan London's justices noted in newspapers and in the Old Bailey Sessions Papers, and finds crime more prevalent than current historiography acknowledges. The article contests current claims that the manner in which newspapers noted crime constructed their readers' perception of crime, making their readers believe crime was much more horrific, and the judicial system much more just, than readers would otherwise have thought they were. The article also argues that some crimes were attacks on the powerful because they were powerful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If women in London in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries sought the perfect crime in which to participate, selecting receiving stolen goods provided excellent opportunities for profit and little chance of punishment. Low conviction rates, combined with the fact that no behaviour outside of gendered expectations was required in its commission, made dealing in stolen goods relatively easy for women in the metropolis. Although this particular offence has not been deeply analysed by historians of crime, its commission did alarm contemporaries, including members of the legal community and social commentators. This paper explores accusations against females in London for receiving, as well as the important roles that familial relationships and work played in their indictments for the crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the mid-2000s, a sudden surge in the use of mobile phone footage by national and international broadcasters was widely anticipated as the precursor to a revolutionary change in the generation and dissemination of news. In the wake of events such as the London bombings of 2005, user-generated content bureaux and hubs were established by major media organizations from the British Broadcasting Corporation and CNN to Al Jazeera while new software and hardware was developed. The potential for covering virtually any news development from at least one of the world's seven billion mobile phones suggested a whole new phase of broadcast journalism was imminent. This study of news bulletins by three United Kingdom-based broadcasters – Channel 4, the BBC and ITV – establishes a new methodology for the identification of mobile phone content in broadcasting. It also finds that a decade later, mobile phone footage has not lived up to its early potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contribution to the fortieth anniversary celebrations of The London Journal, this article provides an overview of the twenty-seven articles which it has published about crime and criminal justice since its inception. While few articles were published in its early years, there has been a big increase in articles published in the last decade, pushing the Journal into the forefront of the historiography on these topics. A survey of the recurring themes in articles about crime, policing, justice, and punishment leads to the conclusion that what is distinctive about London crime is not its severity or frequency, but the depth of evidence the records of its prosecution provide about the distinctive features of metropolitan life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant riots occurred in London in August 2011. The riots took place in highly localised geographical areas, with crime going up hugely in the affected sub-wards. The criminal justice response was to make sentencing for rioters much more severe. We show a significant drop in riot crimes across London in the six months after the riots, consistent with a deterrence effect from the tougher sentencing. More evidence of general deterrence comes from the observation that crime also fell in the post-riot aftermath in areas where rioting did not take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The allocation of funds to police authorities in England and Wales is based on a formula which has been constructed to capture the key drivers of the main activities of the police: crime management, call management, public order and reassurance and traffic management. The formula was based on data from a 1995/96 survey by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), using data on police activity and recorded crime from 1990–92. In this article, the authors argue that the resulting allocation no longer reflects accurately the policing needs of London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]