Mayor’s intervention results in comprehensive overhaul of Met’s Gangs Violence Matrix
- The Matrix is now more accurate and focused on those most likely to commit violence, with fewer people on it than ever before
- Those added to the Matrix following the Mayor’s review more proportionate of London’s population than previously
- Nearly 490 individuals deemed to have little or no evidence of a link to criminal gangs have been removed from the Matrix in the last year
- The Mayor has also invested a further £6 million to help young people turn their backs on criminal and exploitative gangs
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who was a leading human rights lawyer, has today announced the results of a comprehensive overhaul of the Metropolitan Police’s Gangs Violence Matrix, which reveals it is more up-to-date and evidence-based, focused on those more likely to commit violence.
The Gangs Violence Matrix is an intelligence and prioritisation tool that the Metropolitan Police have used since 2011 to identify and risk assess gang members across London who are involved in violence, as well as seeking to identify people at risk of victimisation.
As promised in his manifesto, Sadiq commissioned a wide-ranging review of the database, published in December 2018, and called for the implementation of the recommendations.
As a result of the review, over the last year:
- The overall population of the Matrix has decreased by 31 per cent to 2,676 people
- As recommended in the report, nearly 490 individuals with a ‘green harm’ banding, including those deemed as having a zero-harm score – reflecting the lowest risk of an individual committing or being a victim of violence – have been removed from the Matrix because there was no longer evidence that they were affiliated with a criminal gang
- There has been an improvement in the proportionality of those added to the Matrix. Those added to the Matrix from a BAME background has decreased from 89 per cent in 2018 to 79 per cent in 2019. The number of people of a Black African Caribbean background added to the database dropped from 82.8 per cent in 2018 to 66 per cent the following year.
- The proportion of under-18s is at the lowest-ever point in the Matrix’s history, with a decrease from 14 per cent in 2018 to 6 per cent in 2019. There has also been a reduction in the proportion of under-25s from 72 per cent in 2018 to 64 per cent in 2019.
- Clearer agreements are being put in place to limit organisations that have access to Matrix data, in order to help address concerns that inclusion on the Matrix could unfairly impact on engagement with local authorities, social services or probation services, impacting on issues like access to housing allowance from their local authority.
The Matrix was created in the aftermath of the 2011 riots by the Met to identify those at risk of committing, or being a victim of, gang-related violence in London.
While the Matrix continues to be an important tool in the fight against violent crime, it has proved controversial due to a lack of transparency in the way individuals are added and removed, and the way data is stored securely and applied consistently.
Sadiq, who was a human rights lawyer, made a commitment to Londoners in his manifesto to carry out the largest and most comprehensive review ever conducted into the Matrix.
The review backed the role of the Matrix as a vital enforcement tool for tackling violence, which has a positive impact on reducing levels both of offending and being a victim. However, it made nine recommendations to ensure the Matrix is as effective and efficient as possible, reducing the risk of discrimination.
It also highlighted concerns around a disproportionate number of black boys and young men on the Matrix, and people being kept on the database despite a lack of evidence and a reliance on out-of-date information. One year on, the Met has completed its work and introduced a more evidence-based approach to adding and removing people.
This has resulted in a change in the proportion of new additions to the Matrix from a BAME background. Between May 2018 and October last year, there were 339 new additions to the Matrix and figures show a reduction in the proportion of people of a Black African Caribbean background being added to the database.
City Hall and Met Police analysis shows that the majority of those with green harm banding that were removed from the Matrix had no charges in the six months before, or the six months after, being removed. This supports the argument that these individuals were at a very low risk of offending and have been appropriately removed.
All of the Mayor’s recommendations were designed to reduce the risk of discrimination by ensuring the Met introduced clearer processes and had better oversight of how the Matrix was being used to help increase transparency and build confidence.
In order to further improve transparency and build trust in the Matrix, the Met will now publish quarterly updates online and the Mayor will carry out annual reviews to monitor changes to the Matrix population. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) will publish a progress report on the review recommendations in the spring.
Sadiq has made tackling knife crime and violence his number one priority and is leading a public health approach to tackling the complex causes of crime. In order to help young Londoners he has allocated £70 million in the Young Londoners Fund to provide constructive activities and divert young people away from criminal gangs. He has invested £5.8m into local sports projects to give young people something to do outside school hours and during the holidays, and £6 million to provide early intervention to prevent young people from becoming involved in or exploited by criminal gangs. This includes the first-ever London Gang Exit Service, since 2016 the programme has been supporting young people at significant risk of harm from criminal gang activity to access safe and stable housing, benefit from specialist support and one-to-one mentoring, and helps them into employment, education or training. From October 2017, the programme has accepted 376 referrals and helped 129 people exit the exploitation of criminal gangs. The Mayor’s investment also includes a three-year Rescue and Response programme to better understand, target and respond to County Lines, which saw 568 vulnerable young people referred in its first year.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The perceived cloak of secrecy around the Gangs Matrix led to genuine community concerns, which is why I promised in my manifesto to carry out a thorough review to help restore trust and confidence in the way it is used. We are now seeing real progress with the Met acting on all recommendations.
“Our review showed that the Matrix is a necessary enforcement tool for reducing violent crime in London, but it’s also vitally important that the police continue to evaluate and communicate how it is used.
“Keeping Londoners safe is my top priority. I’m committed to doing everything within my power to tackle the issue of violent crime, including investing more than £100 million in this year’s City Hall budget to tackle violent crime and it’s complex causes, as well as investing £6m to help young people at risk of harm or exploitation from criminal gangs to turn their lives around.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
The findings and nine recommendations were published in December 2018: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-publishes-gangs-matrix-review
An investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in November 2018 found that the Metropolitan Police’s use of the Gangs Matrix led to multiple and serious breaches of data protection laws. The ICO has reviewed the progress the Metropolitan Police has made against the Enforcement Notice, and has confirmed that they are satisfied with the changes made and that the terms of the Enforcement Notice have been met.
In order to help improve transparency the Metropolitan Police now publish figures for the Matrix quarterly: https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/about-us/about-the-met/gangs-violence-matrix/
As part of his plan to tackle violent crime, Sadiq is also:
- Investing £70m in community projects across the capital with the Young Londoners Fund to help young Londoners who might otherwise be at risk of getting caught up in crime by providing aspirational and positive activities to help them reach their true potential.
- Putting £5.8m into local sports projects to give young people something to do outside school hours and during the holidays, through the Mayor’s Sport Unites programme.
- Putting 1,300 extra police officers onto the street by taking the difficult decisions including increasing council tax by 26p a week.
- Taking a new 'public health' approach to tackling the root causes of violence, investing £14m in London’s Violence Reduction Unit with initiatives including peer-mentoring programmes for young people in Pupil Referral Units to help tackle the consequences of school exclusions, and funding for community groups as part of a hyper-localised approach to violence reduction.
- Pushing the Government to finally reverse their staggering cuts to youth services, schools, the police, prisons and probation services since 2010.
Demographics of the Matrix:
- A thorough reappraisal of those with a Green harm banding – including those deemed as having a zero-harm score – was completed last summer and resulted in 488 individuals being removed from the Matrix as there was no longer evidence that they were affiliated with a criminal gang.
- The Mayor’s recommendations were designed to restore trust in the use of the Matrix and ensure it is used both lawfully and proportionately, and to reduce the risk of discrimination.
- Overall, the proportion of individuals on the Matrix from a BAME background has remained stable – it was 88 per cent in 2018 and 89 per cent in 2019. Similarly, the proportion of Black African Caribbean individuals on the Matrix has remained stable: 80 per cent in 2018 and 81 per cent in 2019.
- However, since the Mayor’s review, there have been 339 new additions to the Matrix between May 2018 and October 2019. The proportion of new additions that are white has increased, from 10 per cent in 2018 to 20 per cent in 2019, and the proportion of new additions that are Black African Caribbean has decreased from 82.8 per cent in 2018 to 66 per cent in 2019. Those from a BAME background has decreased from 89 per cent in 2018 to 79 per cent in 2019.
- Whilst there is a changing pattern in the new additions to the Matrix, the demographic of BAME men on the Matrix is still higher than London’s general population. Figures from the Mayor’s review in 2018 highlighted that gang-related violence disproportionately affects London’s BAME communities, with black African Caribbean men making up 57 per cent of victims of under-25 knife injuries, and offenders for 68 per cent of homicides.
- The proportion of under-18s has decreased following the Mayor’s review – from 14 per cent in 2018 to 6 per cent in 2019. At no other time in the Matrix’s history has the proportion of under 18s been this low.
- There has also been a reduction in the proportion of under-25s – a reduction from 72 per cent in 2018 to 64 per cent in 2019.
- The Mayor’s review recommended an overhaul of how the Matrix operates so that people are added in an evidence based manner and agreements are in place as to who is able to access the Matrix data, so that the ‘gang’ label is not wrongly attributed or follows them – reducing the risk of an individual facing discrimination when applying for housing allowance from their local authority. The Mayor will carry out annual reviews to monitor the demographics and use of data on the Matrix.
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