killing with a knife is the most common mode of operation

These stabbing homicides are mainly committed in the context of altercations between acquaintances, explains a confidential note from the National Directorate of the Judicial Police.

More than guns. In France, killing with a knife is the most common method of operation. Between 2019 and 2021, 29% of homicides were committed using a knife, indicates a recent confidential note from the National Directorate of the Judicial Police (DNPJ) that franceinfo was able to consult.

The rate of homicides by stabbing differs depending on the French departments. It reaches its highest level (7.8 per 100,000 inhabitants) in Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, Somme, Ardennes, Marne, Mayenne, Deux-Sèvres, Haute-Vienne, Gers , Hautes-Pyrénées, Pyrénées-Orientales, Savoie, Ardèche, Drôme and Bouches-du-Rhône.

According to the document consulted, homicides by stabbing are mainly committed in the context of altercations between acquaintances. Next come those which occur in the family sphere (35%) and more specifically within the couple (22%). Furthermore, since 2019, all terrorist acts have been committed using a bladed weapon and 58% of homicides linked to rivalries between gangs. Nearly four out of ten stabbing homicides occur on public roads.

One hundred and twenty knife attacks per day in 2020

Concerning the profile of the victims, they are rather young (38 years old on average) and are known to the police in 46% of cases. In most cases, victims receive several stab wounds and in half of cases the victim dies before emergency services intervene.

Those accused of homicide by stabbing are, for their part, mostly men (87% of cases) and rather young (33 years old on average). Half of them are unemployed, a third are under the influence of alcohol and 63% are known to the law. This type of homicide is more often committed in rather disadvantaged social environments marked by social inequalities.

The note also specifies that the perpetrators are more often of foreign nationality than those who used another method to kill (27% compared to 13%) and that when the person accused of homicide by stabbing is a foreigner, the victim is also of foreign nationality in 65% of cases.

According to the latest report from the National Observatory of Delinquency and Penal Responses, in 2020, there were 120 knife attacks per day in France. To fight against this type of homicide, the justice system is currently experimenting with a fixed fine to penalize the carrying of category D weapons, i.e. edged weapons: a fine of 500 euros (or 400 euros if the offender pays in full). following). In the event of a fine, the knives are seized and destroyed. Furthermore, there is also no longer any question of automatically going to the police station to be placed in police custody.

The experimental phase is underway in Bobigny, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Paris, with a “first assessment” scheduled for June. Note that homicides by stabbing are solved in 92% of cases.