Photo: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0Launceston records shoplifting at 2.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Measured against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 10% of them record more crime per resident. Recorded violence rose 19% in a year. Across all the graded crimes, Launceston lands on D (#25 of 35 in Cornwall): more crime per resident than 87% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Each year brought 45.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Launceston
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 19% more violent crime per resident in Launceston than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 32% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Launceston has the 374th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Immingham, Hetton-le-Hole and Denbigh, higher than Coleshill, Portrush and Atherstone. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Launceston’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,423 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Launceston 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, Launceston runs highest on shoplifting (5 per 1,000 against 1.8), other theft (8.5 per 1,000 against 3.2) and criminal damage & arson (10.9 per 1,000 against 4.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 421 | 49.9 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 115 | 13.6 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 92 | 10.9 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 72 | 8.5 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 61 | 7.2 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 42 | 5 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 28 | 3.3 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 1.9 | 2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 7 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 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.
Police in Launceston identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 52% of Launceston’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 2% 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. 411 crimes.
How Launceston’s neighbourhoods rank in England
18% 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.
Launceston’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.
How crime in Launceston has moved
Devon & Cornwall Police published three months short or not at all (Sep 2023, Oct 2023 and Nov 2023), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 +19% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +32% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +4% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -20% (towns its size +0%).
Among 430 towns its size, Launceston ranks 374th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 286 | Torpoint Cornwall | 7,163 | 33.7 | 9.7 | 6.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 293 | St Blazey Cornwall | 6,569 | 33.1 | 11.4 | 7.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 325 | Bude Cornwall | 7,347 | 38.2 | 11.4 | 21.9 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 339 | Hayle Cornwall | 9,040 | 36.7 | 15.3 | 16.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 371 | Coleshill Warwickshire | 6,744 | 27.4 | 31 | 9.8 | D |
| 372 | Portrush Causeway Coast and Glens | 6,150 | 36.9 | 22 | 14.5 | D |
| 373 | Atherstone Warwickshire | 8,666 | 41 | 17.9 | 11.6 | D |
| 374 | Launceston Cornwall | 8,431 | 45.9 | 13.1 | 15.3 | D |
| 375 | Boldon Colliery Tyne and Wear | 6,071 | 40.9 | 18.2 | 22.2 | D |
| 376 | Ushaw Moor and Bearpark County Durham | 6,483 | 41.8 | 17.7 | 15.4 | D |
| 377 | Berechurch Essex | 7,702 | 46.3 | 13.3 | 5.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 430 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Launceston, and others in Cornwall.
Crime in Launceston 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 14 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Where in Launceston police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 365 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 72 | 31% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 64 | 38% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 62 | 65% violent |
police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Launceston. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Launceston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 40 collisions with injuries inside Launceston in five years, in which one person died. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Launceston’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Launceston’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 7 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Launceston had 8.
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 Launceston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Launceston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launceston | 8,431 | 45.9 | 13.1 | D |
| Withnoe | 1,820 | 21.2 | 3.6 | B+ |
| Kelly Bray | 1,137 | 14.4 | 2.6 | A |
| Callington | 4,665 | 36.9 | 11.9 | C− |
| Pensilva | 1,656 | 13.6 | 2.4 | A |
| Gunnislake and St Ann's Chapel | 3,506 | 20.7 | 6.4 | B |
| St Cleer | 1,144 | 28.9 | 6 | B− |
| Tavistock | 12,676 | 27.9 | 9.1 | C+ |
Launceston records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Withnoe, 0.9 miles away, records 21.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Launceston’s 45.9.
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
- Some months are short. Devon & Cornwall Police published September 2023, October 2023 and November 2023 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Launceston 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 Launceston
Is Launceston safe?
Police recorded 45.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Launceston’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 13% of UK towns. Among 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Launceston is 374th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Launceston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 19%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 32%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 20%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Launceston?
Violence & sexual offences: 421 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (92) and other theft (72), with 115 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.