Murder Statistics – Hopefully Some Context

Last updated on July 20th, 2023 at 03:01 pm

Last updated on July 20th, 2023 at 03:01 pm

There has been much said and published in the last 48 hours about a certain high-profile murder case.  MANY commentators are pushing the belief that Police Officers can no longer be trusted to go about their duties as they may in fact be murderers looking for their next victim.  There are somewhere in the region of 135,000 Police Officer in England and Wales, not including PCSOs and Specials.  Are they all perfect?  Undoubtedly not, I don’t think that is realistic or even possible.  How many of them are actual or potential murders?  To be honest I have no idea, but if it isn’t zero (and it clearly isn’t) then I would believe that we are talking single figures at most.

So, just how vulnerable are females walking home to being preyed upon by murderous Police Officers?

It will probably come as no surprise that there are no official statistics for that question, but stats do exist for female murer victims and the relationship between them and their killers.

The figures for 2020/2021 are not yet available, but going over the figutes for the 11 years prior, there were a total of 1,503 females attacked and killed in England and Wales.  Of those 1,503 only 67 of those attacks were committed by strangers. or 4.45%.  I have no desire to be flippant or trivialise these numbers but statistically you are far more likely to be killed by somebody that you already know than a total stranger.   Plus, out of that 4.45% an even smaller, but unknown, percentage will be Police Officers, on or off duty.

As can be seen in Fig 1 above, across the years you are far more likely to be killed by a current or former spouse or partner than a random stranger, let alone a Police Officer

In short, 67 females murdered by strangers over 11 years, approx 6 per year for the whole of England and Wales, so the likelihood of a lone female, walking the streets, being murdered by somebody who happens to be a Police Officer is really quite remote.  I do not ignore what has happened, most certainly not, but I try to view the events with a bit of realism instead of the panic whipped up by the media and other Police commentators.

The Sarah Everard case has been undeniably tragic, and most certainly leaves some uncomfortable and unanswered questions, but the world of Policing will urgently address those issues and hopefully put some better checks and balances in place.  Mistakes have been made over the years I agree, and fear that more will be made in the future.  Policing isn’t perfect, neither are Police Officers, but the vast majority truly strive to be the best that they can be and protect society from the evils that roam the streets.

In short, once the dust has settled PLEASE sit down calmly, reflect on the statistics and go about your life, hopefully, with your trust and faith in Policing and Police Officers restored, and rest assured that NONE of the officers that I know, and have known, would, for one second, have sheltered the likes of this officer and his depraved acts.  Not one.

Thank you for taking the time to read this