Criminal capital? An analysis of crime rates and trends in London

As of 2022, London had 95 crimes per 1,000 people, with violence and sexual offences accounting for 28 out of 1,000 crimes. With 79.52 crimes per 1,000 people, London’s crime rate is 20% higher than the UK average. 

London’s Westminster borough has the highest crime rate of all its boroughs. The second most dangerous is Kensington and Chelsea, and the third most dangerous is Camden. London’s safest borough was Richmond upon Thames, followed by Harrow and Bexley. Richmond upon Thames was the safest borough in London.

In 2022, 819 crimes were committed per 1,000 people in the City of London. In comparison, this rate is 762% higher than London’s overall crime rate of 95 per 1,000 residents. Out of all towns, cities, and villages in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the City of London is the most dangerous small town.

During 2022, there were 1,963 offences of other theft in the City of London, giving a crime rate of 202. As compared to 2021’s 1,057 offences, this figure is 86% higher and 93.20 points higher than 2021’s crime rate of 109. Possession of weapons is the least common crime in the City of London, with 45 incidents recorded in 2022 versus 54 incidents in 2021.

Crime Trends In Greater London

There has been an increase in the severity of 7 out of 14 crime types recorded in Greater London since 2019. Anti-social behaviour has the highest count (255,602) while possession of weapons has the lowest (5,066). Drug crime, public order, violence and sexual offences, theft from a person, other crimes and other theft are all in 2022 than in 2019.

Violence and sexual offences are the only crime in the collected data that has consistently worsened each year since 2019, with 25, 232 offences being recorded in 2023 compared to 20,536 in 2019. Burglary is the only crime that has consistently improved or stayed the same, each year since 2019. There were 90,434 in July 2019 which decreased to 82,435 in January 2023.

In recent years, violent crime in London has steadily increased. In 2021-22, London’s police recorded a quarter of a million violent crime offences, up 10 per cent from the previous year. As a result of gang warfare, violence has been a major factor in the capital.

In the 12 months preceding June 2022, roughly a quarter of the 46,428 knife crimes recorded in England occurred in London. Last year, teenage homicide victims in the city numbered 30—more than in any other year since World War II—and most were stabbing victims.

Crime Rates By Borough

A borough that represents the heart of London and everything quintessentially London, including the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, the borough of Westminster houses most of the West End, St James’s Palace, Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street, Regent Street, among others. This is also the city with the highest crime rate per 1000 for the 5th year running and the most dangerous area in London. Westminster, a densely populated borough interspersed with green spaces and parks, is popular among residents and tourists. Thieves and pickpockets are frequently targeting tourists in Westminster, with 40% of crimes being classified as thefts. A total of 51,383 crimes were reported in 2021, or 203.6 crimes per 1000 people, making Westminster the most dangerous borough in the capital.

Richmond upon Thames is one of the safest boroughs in London, located in southwest London. With 54 crimes committed per 1,000 people, it has the lowest crime rate of any city in the country. Between 2001 and 2012, there were only 14 homicides in the borough. Vehicle theft, miscellaneous theft, and violence are among the most commonly reported crimes in the borough.

Is London The Criminal Capital?

Greater London is the safest region in England when it comes to acts of violence against individuals, despite the shocking statistics.

Based on Home Office data, there were 27 crimes categorised as “violence against the person” in the capital for the year ending March 2022, while 44 crimes were committed in the North West, the highest rate in England, and 31 to 43 crimes were committed in every other region except the South West.

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