Publication from Caroline Russell: A vision to end homicide in London

Murders often hit the headlines, they are violent, brutal losses that are presented as shocking, one-off events, but they leave lasting trauma in whole communities.

Between 2005 and 2020 a total of 2,140 lives were lost to homicide in London, according to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

That is 2,140 lives violently cut short, 2,140 families living without a loved one, and 2,140 more homicides than there should have been.

It should be neither inevitable nor acceptable that so many people are murdered in London.

I believe that each one of those deaths could have been prevented, and that London should be aiming for a target of zero homicides.

It is a target that we have for deaths on the road through Vision Zero, and there is no reason why we should limit our ambition to end preventable death to road deaths.

The data the MPS collects about homicide doesn’t show how victims came to be murdered, and each death does not currently get a full review, so it is hard to learn lessons that could help prevent future deaths.

However other deaths do get reviewed. Local authorities conduct Safeguarding Adult Reviews when an adult dies as a result of abuse of neglect, Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews when a child dies or has been seriously harmed, and Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) in the case of domestic homicide.

This autumn the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) will participate in a Government pilot reviewing each homicide that involves an offensive weapon, (defined as anything that is ‘made or adapted for use for causing injury to the person’).These will be called Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews (OWHRs).

The OWHR pilot aims to review each homicide and learn lessons that can help to prevent the loss of another life. OWHRs will be conducted for homicides not covered by existing statutory reviews such as DHRs.

My report looks at homicide in London from 2005 to 2020. It shows who the victims of homicide are, and the work being done to understand these murders both London-wide, and at borough level.

Recommendation 1

The Mayor should set a goal of zero murders in London within 10 years in order to have a strategic goal, focused on prevention, to measure progress against

Recommendation 2

The Mayor should ensure that London’s Violence Reduction Unit has the resources to conduct Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews effectively

Recommendation 3

The outcomes of the Offensive Weapons Homicide Review pilot should feed into the Mayor’s new Police and Crime Plan and be put at the heart of London’s policing

Recommendation 4

Offensive Weapons Homicide Reviews should look holistically at a person’s life and their interaction with public services and charities to learn lessons and correct processes to reduce the likelihood of another murder occurring

Recommendation 5

The Mayor should be ensuring that all recommendations produced by Domestic Homicide Reviews are assessed annually to monitor progress

Recommendation 6

The Mayor should commit to reviewing every murder that happens in London