Photo: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors · CC BY-SA 2.0Downley records shoplifting at 5.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Each year brought 15.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents. Overall, it grades A− for safety (#6 of 39 in Buckinghamshire). Compared with the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it records less crime per resident than 84%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Downley
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% less violent crime per resident in Downley than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Downley has the 219th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Halton, South Anston and Highfields Caldecote, higher than Addingham, Lanner and Rowhedge. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 35% of Downley’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The A− for Downley, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 177 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Downley against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Downley runs highest on shoplifting (10.5 per 1,000 against 1.8) and public order (5.6 per 1,000 against 3.6). Violence & sexual offences and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 39 | 14.7 | 22.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 28 | 10.5 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 15 | 5.6 | 3.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 12 | 4.5 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 10 | 3.8 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 6 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| Robbery | Violent | 6 | 2.3 | 0.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
A third of Downley residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
35% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Downley’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Among 856 towns its size, Downley ranks 219th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Marlow Bottom Buckinghamshire | 3,339 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 1.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 28 | Walter's Ash and Naphill Buckinghamshire | 3,893 | 9.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 96 | Seer Green Buckinghamshire | 2,582 | 8.1 | 8.9 | 1.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 153 | Long Crendon Buckinghamshire | 2,495 | 12.7 | 6.8 | 3.5 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 216 | Addingham West Yorkshire | 3,247 | 13.2 | 8.9 | 3.4 | A− |
| 217 | Lanner Cornwall | 2,164 | 18 | 4.2 | 3.7 | A− |
| 218 | Rowhedge Essex | 2,492 | 16.3 | 5.9 | 3.9 | A− |
| 219 | Downley Buckinghamshire | 2,655 | 15.9 | 6.3 | 17.7 | A− |
| 220 | Old Basing Hampshire | 3,834 | 14.6 | 7.7 | 3.2 | A− |
| 221 | Martham Norfolk | 3,633 | 18.4 | 4 | 2.3 | A− |
| 222 | Loggerheads Staffordshire | 2,523 | 15.6 | 6.7 | 4.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Downley, and others in Buckinghamshire.
Crime in Downley per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 5 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 13 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime down 6% in a year, while towns its size held steady
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -6% (towns its size +1%), shoplifting and theft -35% (towns its size +2%).
No one died in a collision on Downley’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Downley in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Downley is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Downley’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Downley had 1.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Downley’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Downley
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downley | 2,655 | 15.9 | 6.3 | A− |
| High Wycombe | 83,541 | 40.6 | 17.2 | D |
| Walter's Ash and Naphill | 3,893 | 9.3 | 3.6 | A+ |
| Hughenden Valley | 1,814 | 5.2 | 2.6 | A+ |
| Great Kingshill | 1,669 | 8.8 | 4 | A+ |
| Lane End | 3,446 | 20.9 | 6.9 | B |
| Hazlemere | 20,006 | 14.5 | 7 | A− |
| Lacey Green and Loosley Row | 1,135 | 4.7 | 1.5 | A+ |
Downley records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only High Wycombe and Lane End record more. Walter's Ash and Naphill, 1.7 miles away, records 9.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Downley’s 15.9.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Downley sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Downley
Is Downley safe?
Police recorded 15.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Downley’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 78% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Downley is 219th from the least crime. 35% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Downley?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 7%, shoplifting and theft fell 35% and anti-social behaviour fell 37%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Downley?
Violence & sexual offences: 39 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (28) and public order (15), with 12 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Downley compare with High Wycombe?
High Wycombe records 40.6 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Downley’s 15.9 and 6.3, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.