Police hail knife crime fall as new law comes in

Efforts in the West Midlands focused on repeated patrols in hotspot areas

Knife crime has fallen by more than 25% in the West Midlands after work to arrest offenders and educate young people, police have said.

West Midlands Police (WMP) said crime involving under-25s where a knife has been used to threaten or hurt someone had fallen by 15% since 1 April.

From April 2025 to date, the force has recorded 102 offences compared to 120 in the same period last year, it said. This followed an 18% reduction in 2024-5.

The government set up a dedicated taskforce across seven police forces last October. A WMP spokesman said efforts in the West Midlands also focused on carrying out repeated patrols in hotspot areas.

Pooja Kanda, seen her with her son Ronan, campaigned for a change in the law after his death

The West Midlands said it saw 380 serious youth violence knife offences between April 23 to end March 24, which fell to 309 in the period from April 2024 to the end of March 2025, a drop of 18%.

'Huge amount of work' needed

Separate figures released by the Home Office after the targeted police action in seven high-risk areas showed the West Midlands saw a fall in knife-enabled robbery of 25% in the nine months from October 2024.

The overall reduction across all seven areas was 6%.

WMP Chief Constable Craig Guildford said the force had seen "impressive reductions in knife crime", adding: "While it's certainly pleasing, there's still a huge amount of work for policing and wider society to do to tackle this problem.

"It's part of our ongoing commitment to make the West Midlands a safer place for everyone."

The force released the figures as a ban on ninja swords came into force under Ronan's Law - named after Ronan Kanda who was killed in Wolverhampton on 29 June 2022, in a case of mistaken identity.

In July 2024, the West Midlands police area recorded the highest rate of knife crime offences in England and Wales, but the force said a new policy had seen increased arrests.

By May this year, reported knife crime had fallen by 6% with the region second highest after London.