The publication of Mohammed Rahman’s Homicide and Organised Crime
is timely, coming as it does against the backdrop of a defining moment
in the history of serious violence in England and Wales. After many years
of decline, the levels of gun and knife crime began rising in 2014 and
reached an all time high in the year 2018. Headline figures emerging from
police-recorded crime and NHS data for year end September 2018 (compared
with the previous survey year) suggested an 8% increase in the number
of offences involving sharp instruments; a 15% increase in the number
of hospital admissions for assault; a 14% increase in homicides; and a 17%
increase in robbery offences (Office of National Statistics 2019). Evidence
suggests that knife and gun crime has risen across almost all police force
areas, both victim and perpetrators are getting younger and that a sizeable
majority of homicides are linked to the illicit drug market—with the estimated
costs of serious and organised crime around £37 billion annually
(HM Government 2018a, b). Importantly, but perhaps unsurprisingly,
HM Government (2018b) has confirmed that the majority of recorded
violence tends to be male-on-male.