The Metropolitan Police Service Gangs
Violence Matrix (February 2018)
The gang violence matrix is an intelligence tool used to identify and risk assess gang members in every London borough informed by intelligence, and based on violence and weapons offences. Individuals on the matrix are assessed as victims, offenders, or both.
The overarching aim of the matrix is to reduce gang related violence and prevent young lives being lost. This is done with the support of partner organisations, by taking enforcement action against the most violent gang members and seeking to divert those most at risk of being drawn into gang violence.
When assessing whether someone should be included on the matrix the threshold is ‘Someone who has been identified as being a member of a gang and this is corroborated by reliable intelligence from more than one source (e.g. police, partner agencies or community intelligence).’ They will only feature on the matrix if they fit this definition.
A ‘gang’ is defined as a "relatively durable, predominantly street-based group of young people who
1) See themselves (and are seen by others) as a discernible group, and
2) Engage in a range of criminal activity and violence. They may also have any or all of the following features,
3) Identify with or lay claim over territory,
4) Have some form of identifying structure feature and
5) Are in conflict with other, similar gangs.”
This definition is distinct from and should not be confused with other criminal structures such as organised crime networks, which merit a different policing approach.
Local borough gang units are generally responsible for deciding whether someone is a gang member and whether they should be added to or taken off the matrix. Local partner organisations will often provide input to this process at partnership meetings. The decision making process will be supported by evidence in the form of an intelligence report and/or information provided by the partner organisations.
Only the National Probation Service and the Community Rehabilitation Company have access to the matrix centrally. Other partner organisations do not have access to the matrix but will be aware if a particular individual is on it.
There are approximately 3,500 individuals on the matrix who are members of approximately 194 active gangs in London.
The ethnic make-up of the matrix is below –
Ethnicity Matrix nominals
IC1 White - North European 307
IC2 White - South European 116
IC3 African-Caribbean 2837
IC4 Asian 189
IC5 Chinese, Japanese or South East Asian 3
IC6 Middle Eastern 96
Individuals are removed from the matrix on a regular basis with over 4,000 being removed from the matrix since its inception in 2012. Below are some examples of why individuals are removed from the matrix.
- There is evidence they have exited gang lifestyle.
- They are not engaging in gang activity and haven’t for a period of time.
- They are engaging in a diversion program for a period of time (6 months) and haven’t come to Police notice since that engagement started.
- They have not come to police notice for a significant period (6 months+)
- They are deceased or have been deported.
- They have moved away from London and are no longer believed involved in gang criminality within the Metropolitan Police Area.
A good example of our intervention work is the Divert programme, which was started at Brixton and is now in Tower Hamlets, which has resulted in us engaging with 118 individuals, of which 57 are now employed or in education.
