Violent death in London: in the news, but not in the database.

Violent death in London reached a 10-year high in 2019, with 149 reported homicides, a 60% increase compared with 2014.1 These figures have been widely reported, and the medical community has recently voiced the need for new strategies, including prevention and safeguarding.2 However, in the UK we do not collect total epidemiological data with which to inform our advocacy. We used open access media reports to review London homicides in 2019 (n=148, one person shot by police was not included).3 Of these, 104 (69.8%) were due to stab or gunshot injuries. Location of death was reported for 103 cases; 92 (89.3%) were male and 92 had been stabbed. Seventy-one (69.0%) died prehospital (n=63 stab, n=8 gunshot). The UK’s national trauma registry, the Trauma Audit and Research …