Data collected centrally on the number of offenders cautioned and the number of defendants proceeded against for the possession of an article with a blade or point, from 1997 to 2007 (the latest available), broken down by police force area, are given in the following tables. Offences involving knives specifically are not separately identifiable from this data.
The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
Information on the number of warnings given to offenders by the police is not collected centrally.
Force 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Avon and Somerset 61 94 135 101 147 190 187 167 155 214 200 Bedfordshire 29 46 33 51 39 46 73 96 99 74 81 Cambridgeshire 33 43 35 19 34 56 43 75 72 83 65 Cheshire 68 73 65 64 47 64 60 57 87 101 121 City of London 30 13 10 14 12 20 25 28 21 16 10 Cleveland 30 42 38 24 53 103 107 103 85 90 109 Cumbria 36 44 47 36 36 42 56 56 59 50 51 Derbyshire 57 37 41 45 61 92 109 123 100 94 123 Devon and Cornwall 72 107 99 105 90 145 161 161 167 138 171 Dorset 23 47 37 45 48 73 63 75 76 81 78 Durham 27 34 41 55 41 87 70 80 101 96 107 Essex 101 116 137 136 136 141 222 264 273 217 182 Gloucestershire 23 43 24 21 35 39 41 46 47 48 48 Greater Manchester 250 276 240 260 344 357 362 383 391 441 436 Hampshire 132 130 113 132 142 141 169 221 182 194 198 Hertfordshire 36 37 31 29 31 59 103 103 127 105 78 Humberside 60 64 80 65 61 81 79 121 123 135 170 Kent 41 80 106 98 92 45 40 10 9 3 2 Lancashire 136 165 122 109 131 127 159 188 182 169 176 Leicestershire 63 88 74 65 83 96 107 110 105 140 135 Lincolnshire 27 57 70 51 58 66 89 74 71 85 54 Merseyside 234 204 148 166 155 192 208 245 240 253 250 Metropolitan Police 1,705 1,721 1,454 1,572 2,128 2,459 2,179 2,104 2,113 2,099 1,810 Norfolk 31 54 52 38 59 91 82 88 91 80 96 North Yorkshire 47 39 52 54 64 65 63 89 80 70 62 Northamptonshire 15 13 22 11 6 2 2 2 6 1 3 Northumbria 134 125 151 161 193 226 243 232 241 246 318 Nottinghamshire 55 67 59 59 75 90 123 144 151 176 184 South Yorkshire 68 72 87 91 148 201 209 163 197 169 179 Staffordshire4 36 57 52 40 45 94 78 91 76 111 108 Suffolk 37 24 32 34 36 74 72 79 84 123 97 Surrey 21 19 23 34 41 31 45 50 38 47 65 Sussex 90 82 112 110 136 153 154 135 139 165 165 Thames Valley 91 107 103 82 101 127 116 159 192 227 165 Warwickshire 24 33 31 19 21 29 21 32 30 38 32 West Mercia 32 51 37 46 52 54 67 104 112 124 117 West Midlands 244 227 197 280 417 450 449 465 386 469 485 West Yorkshire 53 65 85 82 116 157 139 201 214 214 227 Wiltshire 26 38 38 32 47 46 49 63 66 82 53 Dyfed-Powys 27 32 38 40 48 53 47 51 54 39 51 Gwent 35 25 25 28 25 36 35 61 45 74 77 North Wales 56 67 64 51 63 96 70 78 85 131 101 South Wales 93 130 126 110 126 167 152 175 147 187 164 England and Wales 4,489 4,888 4,566 4,625 5,823 6,963 6,928 7,352 7,319 7,699 7,404 1 Includes the following offences and statutes: Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3). Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)). 2 The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
Force 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Avon and Somerset — 3 12 12 17 41 39 88 79 157 147 Bedfordshire 4 5 6 3 4 16 22 19 123 131 82 Cambridgeshire — 3 4 10 12 9 7 17 40 36 43 Cheshire 10 16 11 12 20 11 18 18 19 19 14 City of London 11 6 7 7 9 6 1 9 22 13 11 Cleveland 2 2 2 1 4 4 14 15 19 32 43 Cumbria 7 4 10 1 17 12 10 10 12 15 20 Derbyshire 9 4 7 7 8 5 6 10 10 26 42 Devon and Cornwall 67 52 56 52 50 65 44 95 100 82 81 Dorset — 11 1 — — 2 7 9 6 15 36 Durham 7 21 18 19 6 1 9 11 21 44 50 Essex 39 53 54 42 51 45 57 27 32 54 17 Gloucestershire — 6 12 16 12 9 11 17 20 26 29 Greater Manchester 66 99 66 88 115 114 123 127 150 166 168 Hampshire 34 45 63 35 26 59 52 81 85 77 75 Hertfordshire 4 10 5 9 16 20 21 33 32 42 64 Humberside 10 15 17 9 10 9 3 10 44 50 52 Kent 9 32 40 44 34 33 45 62 60 64 65 Lancashire 31 44 24 12 38 21 33 67 84 91 74 Leicestershire 7 8 8 7 6 4 14 20 34 56 46 Lincolnshire 6 12 7 4 11 14 18 23 32 41 49 Merseyside 103 67 56 46 40 50 48 99 91 62 113 Metropolitan Police 939 1,024 773 778 497 492 388 493 569 710 750 Norfolk — 12 36 27 31 38 26 22 35 47 46 North Yorkshire 7 9 12 17 16 18 18 20 25 24 20 Northamptonshire 11 8 4 11 23 46 28 42 36 50 59 Northumbria 50 64 48 51 70 82 92 69 81 119 93 Nottinghamshire 8 — 3 21 35 34 45 45 65 108 91 South Yorkshire 4 2 4 15 18 18 17 38 93 123 131 Staffordshire — 3 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 6 19 Suffolk 9 11 9 8 15 14 12 16 18 26 31 Surrey 6 8 7 7 19 18 15 29 26 34 47 Sussex 34 63 55 80 110 115 136 282 478 248 218 Thames Valley 20 11 26 37 24 35 38 59 94 115 117 Warwickshire — 8 8 7 7 5 7 15 18 28 13 West Mercia 28 26 28 39 25 38 48 61 50 76 55 West Midlands 9 104 77 95 105 132 95 130 178 229 199 West Yorkshire — 8 12 20 20 24 22 33 72 68 72 Wiltshire 5 12 5 11 6 7 7 18 17 17 15 Dyfed-Powys 17 25 30 32 36 60 72 47 70 73 53 Gwent 7 1 2 2 1 9 9 2 19 31 36 North Wales 18 34 22 27 36 45 45 59 67 50 47 South Wales 31 25 15 36 51 24 21 25 25 22 27 England and Wales 1,629 1,976 1,663 1,758 1,652 1,805 1,746 2,374 3,154 3,503 3,460 1 From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. 2 Includes the following offences and statutes: Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3). Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)). 3 The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence. 4 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.