Mayor invests almost £1m to extend GPS tagging of domestic abuse and knife crime offenders

Sadiq Khan is investing a further £900,000 in the scheme after fresh evaluation of the GPS tagging pilot shows it is helping to reduce the risks offenders pose to their victims and putting the emphasis of behaviour change on perpetrators not victims.

Since the pilot launched in February 2019, more than 500 tagged offenders across London who have breached their licence conditions have been recalled to prison – 372 were knife crime offenders and 147 were domestic abuse offenders.

This includes 145 cases where GPS data was used to evidence otherwise hidden behaviour and confirm that tagged offenders had breached their conditions, such as entering a monitored exclusion zone.

In addition to the 519 individuals who have been recalled across both pilots, the tagging scheme also ensures compliance with licencing conditions. New data just released shows more than half of the tagged offenders on the entire pilot (872) complied with their licence conditions during the period of GPS monitoring.

Under the £4.5 million programme, those who have served custodial sentences for knife crime offences, such as being in possession of a knife, robbery, aggravated burglary and GBH, as well as domestic abuse offenders, are fitted with a GPS tracking device, which is issued under strict licence conditions.

This has also included monitoring 142 tagged individuals convicted previously of stalking and repeat victimisation of specific women and girls within the context of domestic abuse.

Mr Khan said: “I am committed to doing all I can to protect and support victims of domestic abuse in the capital and tackle the scourge of knife crime and that is why I am pleased to expand my pioneering GPS tagging pilot.

“It is working to safeguard those most at risk and rightly puts the emphasis on perpetrators of violence to change their behaviour not victims. Since 2019, more than 1,600 knife crime and domestic abuse offenders have been tagged in London – more than half of those have complied and the technology has worked to recall more than 500 who breached their conditions.

“This scheme is using state-of-the-art technology to protect victims and enhancing our partnership work with the probation service and police to better manage offenders and build a safer London for everyone.”

Commander Nick John, who leads on criminal justice for the Metropolitan Police Service, said: “We support the extension of the GPS tagging pilot programme, which has helped us to identify domestic abuse and knife crime offenders, who break their licence conditions, allowing us to send them back to prison.

“Domestic abuse and knife crime have a devastating impact on individuals, their families and the wider community.

“This is one aspect of the work we are doing to tackle VAWG (violence against women and girls) and violence associated with knife-crime in London.

“Tackling violence remains front and centre of our focus and this scheme has enabled us to take violent repeat offenders off London streets, helping to keep victims and the wider public safe from harm.”

Kilvinder Vigurs, London regional director for the Probation Service, added: “GPS tagging is an integral part of our work as it gives probation staff the ability to keep a much closer eye on the whereabouts of offenders under their supervision.

“This cutting-edge technology was rolled out nationally in 2019 to monitor offenders’ compliance with their licence conditions and prevents ex-criminals from falling back into a life of crime.”

The additional City Hall funding will extend the GPS scheme to March 2024.