Knife crime offenders to
wear GPS tracking tags
By Rob Picheta, CNN
Posted at 4:45 AM ET, Mon February 11, 2019
London's homicide rates have increased in recent
years. A forensic tent covers the scene where a 20-
year-old man was fatally stabbed in April 2018.
London (CNN) — Knife crime o?enders in
London will be tagged with GPS tracking
devices after leaving prison, the city's mayor,
Sadiq Khan, said Monday, as the UK capital
attempts to curb the growing problem of
violent crime on its streets.
The year-long pilot program will see 100
o?enders from four of the city's knife crime
hotspots -- the boroughs of Lewisham,
Lambeth, Croydon and Southwark -- issued
with the devices.
Related Article: 12-year-olds suspected of carrying
knives could be jailed and banned from social media
When the program launches on February 18,
it will allow police to automatically check an
o?ender's location against the scene of a
reported crime, the mayor said.
Khan has been under political pressure to
stem the increase in knife crime recorded in
London in recent years.
In February 2018, London's monthly homicide
rate briefly overtook New York's for the first
time in modern history, and homicides in
London rose 14% in the 12 months to
September 2018 -- the latest period for which
statistics are available -- according to UK's
OWce for National Statistics.
"This innovative pilot will build on the good
work of the City Hall-funded violent crime task
force by helping o?enders integrate back into
society and reducing the risk of reo?ending,
as well as giving the police the information
they need to thoroug...
