Deter, detect, disrupt. An analysis of Nottinghamshire Police’s knife crime team

Abstract

Nottinghamshire Police established the only dedicated team in the UK outside London, proactively locating those at higher likelihood of involvement in Knife-enabled crime. The team uses a mix of tactics under the banner of ‘deter, detect, and disrupt’ through intelligence-led and problem-oriented policing approaches. This article examines those tactics and assesses the effectiveness thereof as a case study, using a mix of statistics and wider academic research to identify potential benefits. It concludes that the approaches have reaped positive rewards, alongside other, softer, prevention and partnership approaches. There remains however a need to better define the team’s aims and purpose.