BREAKING: The reduction in police officer numbers in England and Wales is "likely" to have been a "contributory factor" in the rise in cases of murder and manslaughter since 2014, a Home Office study has found....
The 80-page report said evidence suggests "more police officers means fewer homicides...if all else is equal", but pointed to a rise in drug-related cases and terror attacks as key reasons for the rise...
It was also "possible" that a reduction in clear-up rates for crimes such as robbery might have affected murder rates, the Home Office research said....
The document found that black people were more likely to be murder victims and suspects though some of the "disparity" was due to "deprivation".. Black people were 4.7 times more likely than whites to be victims in 2017-18 and eight times more likely to be suspects...
Data in Home Office report also show that over the past 20 years, apart from people born in the British Isles, most victims were from Pakistan and those born in Jamaica committed the most killings - a likely factor in the surge in murders in the early 2000s, it says.
The full, fascinating, study on Trends and drivers of homicide is here:
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
