UK to spend £15 million on AI-powered crime mapping for knife violence
TL;DR: The British government is investing £15 million over three years in AI-enhanced crime mapping to support its goal of halving knife crime. The system divides England and Wales into 1.46 million hexagons and found that all recorded knife crimes in 2024-25 occurred in fewer than 2.5% of them. The initiative sits at the intersection of AI-driven policing and civil liberties — a space where the UK is becoming an increasingly active testing ground.
The Home Office has detailed its national mapping tool as part of “Protecting Lives, Building Hope,” a policy paper outlining the government’s knife crime strategy. The tool uses hexagonal grids of approximately 0.1 square kilometres each, enabling what officials describe as “micro-geography” analysis of crime patterns.
Granular targeting, familiar concerns
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is tasked with delivering improved data visualisation, integrating additional data sources, and applying AI for pattern recognition. The government says the approach allows local partners to “pinpoint the specific streets, times and drivers of crime” and deploy the right combination of policing, prevention, and services.
The data reveals sharp contrasts even within city centres. A hexagon covering Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square recorded more than 45 knife crimes between April 2024 and March 2025, while a neighbouring zone around Covent Garden’s Long Acre saw fewer than five. Similar variation appeared in Birmingham’s city centre.
The £15 million builds on £5 million spent last year on hyperlocal pilots across 11 police force areas. The government plans to expand to 27 forces this year with £26.25 million in funding, supporting interventions including targeted patrols, knife-detecting technology, and expanded CCTV with retrospective facial recognition.
Looking forward
AI-powered policing tools are expanding rapidly across UK forces, from this mapping system to the Metropolitan Police’s record year for facial recognition arrests. For technology providers and civil liberties groups alike, the trajectory is clear: the UK is scaling AI-driven law enforcement tools faster than the regulatory frameworks governing their use.