ONS · Police force area data tables · 45 values
Offences involving a knife or sharp instrument by police force area
The number of selected serious offences recorded by each police force in England and Wales that involved a knife or sharp instrument, for every year ending March since 2011, with the England and Wales total (which includes British Transport Police).
latest 12 months to Year ending March 2026; 1 quarters summed · total 97,548 offences
| Police force area | Latest 12 months | Share | Previous 12 months | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGLAND AND WALES | 48,774 | 50% | 53,096 | ▼ 8.1% |
| Metropolitan Police | 13,806 | 14.2% | 16,285 | ▼ 15.2% |
| West Midlands | 3,790 | 3.9% | 4,444 | ▼ 14.7% |
| Greater Manchester | 2,855 | 2.9% | 3,425 | ▼ 16.6% |
| West Yorkshire | 2,015 | 2.1% | 2,277 | ▼ 11.5% |
| Avon and Somerset | 1,641 | 1.7% | 1,548 | ▲ 6% |
| South Yorkshire | 1,400 | 1.4% | 1,426 | ▼ 1.8% |
| Essex | 1,373 | 1.4% | 1,499 | ▼ 8.4% |
| Merseyside | 1,184 | 1.2% | 1,161 | ▲ 2% |
| Northumbria | 1,153 | 1.2% | 1,056 | ▲ 9.2% |
| Lancashire | 1,125 | 1.2% | 1,305 | ▼ 13.8% |
| Hampshire | 991 | 1% | 991 | → 0% |
| Cleveland | 944 | 1% | 893 | ▲ 5.7% |
| Thames Valley | 924 | 0.9% | 1,005 | ▼ 8.1% |
| Nottinghamshire | 917 | 0.9% | 802 | ▲ 14.3% |
| Sussex | 891 | 0.9% | 1,043 | ▼ 14.6% |
| Kent | 871 | 0.9% | 872 | ▼ 0.1% |
| Devon and Cornwall | 862 | 0.9% | 876 | ▼ 1.6% |
| Humberside | 800 | 0.8% | 772 | ▲ 3.6% |
| Staffordshire | 766 | 0.8% | 766 | → 0% |
| Derbyshire | 759 | 0.8% | 654 | ▲ 16.1% |
| Leicestershire | 696 | 0.7% | 779 | ▼ 10.7% |
| South Wales | 645 | 0.7% | 662 | ▼ 2.6% |
| West Mercia | 616 | 0.6% | 649 | ▼ 5.1% |
| Cambridgeshire | 607 | 0.6% | 606 | ▲ 0.2% |
| Hertfordshire | 605 | 0.6% | 762 | ▼ 20.6% |
| Northamptonshire | 595 | 0.6% | 551 | ▲ 8% |
| Bedfordshire | 588 | 0.6% | 590 | ▼ 0.3% |
| Cheshire | 487 | 0.5% | 567 | ▼ 14.1% |
| Surrey | 445 | 0.5% | 469 | ▼ 5.1% |
| Norfolk | 436 | 0.4% | 437 | ▼ 0.2% |
| Lincolnshire | 431 | 0.4% | 404 | ▲ 6.7% |
| Durham | 407 | 0.4% | 394 | ▲ 3.3% |
| Suffolk | 366 | 0.4% | 273 | ▲ 34.1% |
| Gwent | 352 | 0.4% | 385 | ▼ 8.6% |
| North Yorkshire | 344 | 0.4% | 278 | ▲ 23.7% |
| British Transport Police | 328 | 0.3% | 390 | ▼ 15.9% |
| Warwickshire | 308 | 0.3% | 307 | ▲ 0.3% |
| Wiltshire | 276 | 0.3% | 240 | ▲ 15% |
| North Wales | 268 | 0.3% | 339 | ▼ 20.9% |
| Gloucestershire | 253 | 0.3% | 255 | ▼ 0.8% |
| Dorset | 243 | 0.2% | 272 | ▼ 10.7% |
| Dyfed-Powys | 191 | 0.2% | 173 | ▲ 10.4% |
| Cumbria | 178 | 0.2% | 155 | ▲ 14.8% |
| City of London | 42 | 0% | 59 | ▼ 28.8% |
Source
- Dataset
- Police force area data tables
- Rows
- ; values are the sum of the published rows for each police force area and period.
- Caveat
- Possession of a knife without it being used, the share of offences involving a knife (the percentage columns are not read), regional aggregates, or offences before the force joined the collection.
- Parent metric
- Offences involving a knife or sharp instrument
- API
- /api/metrics/knife_offences_by_force/vintages