AOAV's review of unsolved murders in London over the past decade found that cases are far more likely to remain unresolved when the victim is a young Black man or when the killing involves a firearm, raising questions about trust in policing, witness cooperation and unequal access to justice.
London recorded its lowest homicide rate in over a decade in 2025, but this decline masked sharp increases in domestic abuse-related killings of women, murders of elderly victims, and teenage involvement in violence, highlighting deepening vulnerabilities despite overall progress.
A viral claim that Palantir software reduced domestic murders in Bedfordshire to zero is contradicted by recent cases, unsupported by reliable statistics, and lacks evidence of any causal impact.
In 2024, Greater London recorded 102 homicides, with knife crime still the leading cause of death but shootings on the rise and a worrying surge in teenage offenders. Black individuals remained disproportionately affected as both victims and suspects, and the City of Westminster, along with several East London boroughs, emerged as new hotspots for lethal violence.
Amid mounting investor concerns over alleged human rights abuses and a mass exodus of senior staff, Israeli surveillance firm Corsight AI—whose facial recognition technology was embedded in UK police systems—now faces a deepening financial and reputational crisis, prompting renewed calls for public accountability from clients like Essex Police.
In a recent Times Radio debate, former police officer Norman Brennan advocated for arming all UK police officers, citing rising crime; however, official statistics indicate that violent crime has significantly declined since the 1990s, with homicides at 9.5 per million in 2024 , and police firearm discharges remain exceedingly rare, with only two incidents in over 17,500 armed operations in 2023–24 , suggesting that Brennan's proposal lacks empirical support and could undermine the UK's effective model of policing by consent.
The UK government shared counter-terrorism contacts with the Israeli embassy during a domestic protest investigation, raising concerns over foreign interference in policing and the independence of British justice.
Essex Police have refused to confirm whether officers met with Corsight AI, a surveillance firm linked to Israeli military operations, raising fresh concerns over transparency and the ethics of UK police use of facial recognition technology.
Essex Police’s use of facial recognition technology developed by Israeli firm Corsight AI—linked to controversial surveillance in Gaza and the West Bank—raises ethical concerns about the adoption of tools associated with alleged human rights abuses.
This piece examines the allure of authoritarian "hard men" in popular culture and real-world policing, using Judge Dredd and the SAS as case studies to warn against the dangers of militarised justice and unchecked power.
The interim report from Operation Kenova concludes Army spy Stakeknife probably cost more lives than he saved.
In 2023, Greater London recorded 103 homicides, with stabbings making up two-thirds of all killings, and the data revealing continued racial disparities, a predominance of male victims and offenders, and a significant number of cases still awaiting trial.