Graham Farrell

Police in England and Wales to get more money – but increasing funding won’t necessarily mean less crime Crime has been declining for decades across countries with quite varied policing practices and funding.

theconversation.com/police-in-en...

And if you reduce opportunities for murder, rates will fall.

The clearest explanation of this is the difference in murder rates between the US and UK.

Rates for knife murders and other methods are comparable; but because the US has more guns, it gets more murders

4/5

Idris Elba thinks rounded knife tips would save lives. Is he right? The actor has suggested that many kitchen knives don’t need their sharp points. Time to look at the data

A 2005 panel of chefs found little functional need for pointed end blades.

Furthermore, a new paper by two leading criminologists suggest that phasing out pointed-end knives for round-tipped ones could reduce knife deaths by *half*

More in my column

www.thetimes.com/article/7c54...

5/5

NEW: What is the most common murder weapon?

It isn’t the gun, the machete or the zombie knife - but the kitchen knife.

Here’s why phasing out sharp-tipped knives isn’t as mad as it sounds.

1/5

@thetimes.com

Free to read 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/7c54...

Should all knives with pointed ends be banned? Britain’s government is considering it, along with other steps to curb fatal stabbings

How far can knife crime be treated as a problem of supply? My latest story is on a peculiarly British problem and what is and isn't in the government's strategy for curbing it. (Also tested the much-trailed round-tipped knives: they are surprisingly good) www.economist.com/britain/2025...

To prevent shoplifting we must unpack the retail crime settlement <p>Narratives that shoplifting is all about rampant criminals, disinterested policing and lenient magistrates only tell part of the story and distract us from finding other ways of addressing this cri...

NEW blog from our Research Director Andy Higgins 'Should retailers adapt to prevent shoplifting?'

He argues that large retailers shouldn't just expect the police to deal with shoplifting. There's plenty that can be done to prevent it too.

www.police-foundation.org.uk/2025/02/shou...

Should the £100 contactless limit be scrapped? The City regulator wants to remove the cap as part of the government drive to boost the economy, but will it open consumers up to fraud? We seek opposing views

Our Prof @grahamfarrell.bsky.social quoted in this @thetimes.com article about the £100 contactless limit. 💳
Read more 👇
tinyurl.com/3b7jum2j
#AcademicSky #LawSky #CrimSky #Criminology

'The Great American Car Crime Decline': School of Law academic publishes major study on the drop in US car crime levels Professor Graham Farrell explains why car theft in the US declined by 80% between 1990 and 2020.

Our Prof @grahamfarrell.bsky.social has published a major study about the decline in car theft in the US. 🚗🔒 Read more below! 👇

#AcademicSky #LawSky #CrimSky #HigherEd #Criminology

essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/news/art...

What really happens to your phone when it’s stolen The racket fuelling organised crime is evolving beyond snatchers on bikes – and the Met police commissioner says Apple and Google could stop it if they wanted to

'The UK’s most senior police officer has accused tech giants including Apple and Google of “enabling” a phone theft epidemic that gangsters have turned into a “global criminal business”.'

www.thetimes.com/article/2f50...

The only knife it’s legal to carry without good reason is a small penknife (non-locking, < 7.5cm).

Why stopping knife crime needs to start in the kitchen Phasing out pointed-tip kitchen knives in favour of round-tip knives is a natural extension of the UK’s progress on weapons control.

One of those brilliant suggestions you read and think to yourself, 'Why on earth haven't I thought of or read about this idea before? It's so damned obvious!'

A schedule for phasing-out knife crime - Crime Science Knife crime has become a prominent and seemingly intractable problem in England & Wales. Theory and evidence indicate that reducing crime opportunities is an effective means of crime control, includin...

The longer journal article version is at tinyurl.com/4mvsrtke

And we’re not saying that it will prevent all knife crime - just that it will make a large and lasting dent in it.

In the journal article (URL in para 3) we have a section ‘Won’t they just use something else? The possibility of displacement’. Most youths can grab a kitchen knife easily, but alternatives are typically less available, inferior weapons, with lower status

Thank you Jacob. This is tactical displacement. There’s lots of evidence (and theory) showing it sometimes occurs but usually doesn’t.

This just published with @toby-davies.bsky.social . Says pointed kitchen knives not zombie knives are murder weapon of choice and we should phase them out like we’re phasing-out fossil-fuelled vehicles.

rdcu.be/d4e9h