Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0Crime per resident in Garden City runs higher than in 98% of UK towns
Violence recorded locally dropped 14% in a year. Out of every 1,000 residents, 66.3 violent and sexual offences and 26.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually. Its Safety Grade is D−, on crimes police recorded inside Garden City’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour runs at 30.5 per 1,000 residents here, against 5.3 in a typical town its size: police recorded 74 in the 12 months to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Garden City
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 14% less violent crime per resident in Garden City than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 42% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Garden City’s D−
A firm grade. Built on 678 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Garden City 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, Garden City runs highest on anti-social behaviour (30.5 per 1,000 against 5.3), criminal damage & arson (14.8 per 1,000 against 3.2) and vehicle crime (7 per 1,000 against 1.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 139 | 57.3 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 74 | 30.5 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 36 | 14.8 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 27 | 11.1 | 2.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 25 | 10.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 17 | 7 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 15 | 6.2 | 1.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 11 | 4.5 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 3.3 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 3.3 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Garden City compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 229 | Aston Clwyd | 2,847 | 18.2 | 7.6 | 3.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 290 | Tanyfron Clwyd | 2,229 | 20.3 | 8.5 | 2.1 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 351 | Dyserth Clwyd | 2,038 | 27.3 | 5.6 | 4.9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 438 | Penmaenmawr Clwyd | 2,762 | 34.3 | 7.2 | 9.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 542 | Llanhilleth Gwent | 2,450 | 63.8 | 23.4 | 6.3 | D− |
| 543 | Williton Somerset | 2,433 | 69.9 | 18.4 | 9.5 | D− |
| 544 | Winwick Cheshire | 2,062 | 79.2 | 13.1 | 5.5 | D− |
| 545 | Garden City Clwyd | 2,427 | 66.3 | 26.8 | 13.5 | D− |
| 546 | Denholme West Yorkshire | 2,960 | 68.5 | 25.8 | 9.6 | D− |
| 547 | Bugle Cornwall | 2,430 | 71.4 | 23 | 7.8 | D− |
| 548 | Coundon and Leeholme County Durham | 2,522 | 60.8 | 38.1 | 14.3 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Garden City, and others in Clwyd.
Police in Garden City identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 56% of Garden City’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 18% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (66% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 4% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 257 crimes.
Crime in Garden City 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 28 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 17 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Garden City has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 -14% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +42% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft +50% (towns its size +4%), anti-social behaviour +17% (towns its size -1%).
One person died in collisions on Garden City’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 18 collisions with injuries inside Garden City in five years, in which one person died (1 was a cyclist). 7 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Garden City’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Garden City’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Garden City had 7.
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 Garden City’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Garden City
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | 2,427 | 66.3 | 26.8 | D− |
| Shotton | 6,500 | 57.9 | 17.9 | D |
| Aston | 2,847 | 18.2 | 7.6 | B+ |
| Hawarden | 14,284 | 23.5 | 7.8 | B− |
| Saughall | 2,655 | 18.7 | 3.8 | A− |
| Connah's Quay | 16,768 | 33.3 | 10.6 | C |
| Northop Hall | 1,826 | 16.6 | 5.1 | A− |
| Broughton | 6,532 | 21.2 | 7.2 | B |
Garden City records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Shotton, 1.4 miles away, records 57.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Garden City’s 66.3.
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 Garden City 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 Garden City
Is Garden City safe?
Police recorded 66.3 violent and sexual offences and 26.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Garden City’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Garden City has less crime per resident than 1%.
Is crime going up in Garden City?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 14%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 42%, shoplifting and theft rose 50% and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Garden City?
Violence & sexual offences: 139 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (36) and other theft (27), with 74 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Garden City compare with Chester?
Chester records 46.9 violent and sexual offences and 10.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Garden City’s 66.3 and 26.8, 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 · Welsh Government Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, community safety domain by LSOA · 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.