Not-Equal.tech

Partners

Schools in East London

Project Lead

Artemis Skarlatidou, University College London

Co-investigators

Dr Reka Solymosi, University of Manchester

Project Type

Funded Project

Knife crime offences in England and Wales have hit a record high; with most incidents in London involving young people 10-25 years old. The project’s aim was to create a technology-based mechanism to enable the collection of data to understand the experiences and contexts of knife crime and thereby open up dialogue with local institutions in order to co-create potential responses. The project first sought to understand and compare police officials’ and young people’s perceptions about knife crime, and trust in policing in Hackney. This understanding was used to design the ‘Fear of Crime App’.

Participants working together in the workshop.
Everyone getting along and shaking hands.
Engaging in discussions with the team.

Item 1 of 3

The project team interviewed 23 young people and police experts. 50 young people were involved as co-researchers and used the app to interview their peers and capture additional data. Young people identified stop and search activities as having a strong racial bias, and as “unfair and abusive” leading to their complete lack of trust in policing. They were aware of the police’s enforcement-based activities but unaware of community-building approaches so it feels important to make young people aware of non-enforcement activities, as a means to foster trust and engagement. The project team intends to meet with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to discuss how the findings can be implemented London-wide with the Metropolitan Police.