Knife-Enabled Robberies See 6% Reduction, Driven by Intensive Police Efforts and New Strategies

The number of knife-enabled robberies reported in high-risk areas has seen a significant reduction, driven by intense police efforts and new strategies. According to newly-released government figures, the number of knife-enabled robberies in South Yorkshire fell from 595 in the year running between June 2023 and June 2024, to 560 in the year from June 2024 to June 2025, representing a 6% reduction. This follows the establishment of a dedicated police taskforce in October 2024, which has been working to tackle knife crime in the area.

Key Takeaways:

• The number of knife-enabled robberies in South Yorkshire fell from 595 in the year running between June 2023 and June 2024, to 560 in the year from June 2024 to June 2025, representing a 6% reduction.
• The reduction is attributed to intense police efforts, including upping visible patrols, using drones, knife arches, and detection dogs to support police on the ground, and deploying plain clothes officers.
• The percentage change seen in other 'high-risk' force areas between June 2024 and 2025, when compared with the previous year, is as follows:

+ Metropolitan Police: 2% reduction

+ West Midlands: 25% reduction

+ Greater Manchester: 4% increase

+ West Yorkshire: 7% decrease

+ Avon and Somerset: 9% decrease

+ British Transport Police: 24% decrease

• The average reduction in reported knife-enabled robberies, across the seven 'high-risk' areas, is 6%.
• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has hailed the reduction as a "significant step" towards tackling knife crime, which destroys lives and devastates communities.
• The government has banned ninja swords, with the change in the law coming into force on August 1, 2025.
• A thousand deadly weapons have been handed in following the country's largest weapons surrender scheme to date.
• Ronan's Law, which is expected to bring in the toughest measures to date to tackle the sale of weapons online, will require retailers to report bulk or suspicious knife orders to the police, put in place more stringent age-verification checks, and impose significant fines on tech executives whose platforms fail to prevent illegal sales.

Statistics:

• 595: The number of knife-enabled robberies in South Yorkshire in the year running between June 2023 and June 2024.
• 560: The number of knife-enabled robberies in South Yorkshire in the year from June 2024 to June 2025, representing a 6% reduction.
• 6%: The average reduction in reported knife-enabled robberies, across the seven 'high-risk' areas.
• 25%: The reduction in knife-enabled robberies in the West Midlands between June 2024 and 2025, compared with the previous year.
• 24%: The reduction in knife-enabled robberies by the British Transport Police between June 2024 and 2025, compared with the previous year.
• 50: The number of the top 100 hyper-local knife crime hotspots to be targeted by the Home Office's pilot using sophisticated new mapping technologies.
• £5 million: The funding allocated to the pilot, which will be used to target 50 of the top 100 hyper-local knife crime hotspots with targeted intervention tactics.
• 14 inches: The blade length of the majority of ninja swords that were previously legal but have now been banned.
• 24 inches: The blade length of the majority of ninja swords that were previously legal but have now been banned.
• 6 months: The potential prison sentence for anyone caught in possession of a ninja sword in private.
• 2 years: The potential prison sentence for anyone caught in possession of a ninja sword in private under new measures laid in the Crime and Policing Bill.

Sources:

• Government figures released in the days after the ban on ninja swords came into force on August 1, 2025.
• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in a statement on the reduction in knife-enabled robberies.
• Pooja Kanda, knife crime campaigner and mother to Ronan, in a statement on Ronan's Law.