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View of Mill Street, CrookPhoto: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0
DSafety Grade
Safety in Crook · police.uk, 2023–2026

Recorded crime per resident is higher in Crook than in 93% of UK towns

Violent crime was up 15% in a year. Add to that, the Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crimes police recorded inside Crook’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026: #30 of 52 in County Durham. Criminal damage & arson stands out: 21.4 per 1,000 residents in the town, against 4.5 in a typical town its size, with 208 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Out of every 1,000 residents, 45.4 violent and sexual offences and 26.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually.

Violent crime
45.4
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
26
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
13.1
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
28.5
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded

Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Crook

Violent crime rose over the year

In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 15% more violent crime per resident in Crook 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 ↓

Neighbourhood ranks

48% of Crook’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.

Safety Grade

The D for Crook, and how it is built

Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 5% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Violent and sexual offences (45.4 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 10% of UK towns
Homes and vehicles (26 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 3% of UK towns
DD

A firm grade. Built on 2,081 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Crook against every UK town of 1,000 or more.

Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.

By type

What police recorded in the last 12 months

Violence & sexual offences45.4
Anti-social behaviour28.8
Criminal damage & arson21.4
Public order9.6
Shoplifting6.3
Other theft5.5
Burglary5.2
Other crime4.3
Vehicle crime1.9
Drugs1.7
Possession of weapons1.1
Bicycle theft0.6
Robbery0.6
Theft from the person0.2
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size

Against the typical town its size, Crook runs highest on criminal damage & arson (21.4 per 1,000 against 4.5), shoplifting (6.3 per 1,000 against 1.8) and anti-social behaviour (28.8 per 1,000 against 8.8).

Show as a table
CategoryIn the gradeReportsPer 1,000Typical
Violence & sexual offencesViolent44145.422.4
Anti-social behaviournot graded28028.88.8
Criminal damage & arsonHome & vehicle20821.44.5
Public ordernot graded939.63.6
Shopliftingnot graded616.31.8
Other theftnot graded535.53.2
BurglaryHome & vehicle515.21.9
Other crimenot graded424.31.5
Vehicle crimeHome & vehicle181.92
Drugsnot graded171.71
Possession of weaponsViolent111.10.4
Bicycle theftnot graded60.60.1
RobberyViolent60.60.2
Theft from the personnot graded20.20

“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.

Neighbourhoods · England-wide rank

48% of Crook residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods

16%1
33%2
23%3
6%4
0%5
0%6
22%7
0%8
0%9
0%10
Higher crimeLower crime

0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 48% 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.

Crook’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.

Towns its size

How Crook compares with UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000

#TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesShops & theftSafety
1Greasby Merseyside9,17511.33.72.5A
…
71Egglescliffe County Durham10,25018.110.412B
…
303Pelton and Ouston County Durham7,3053120.46.8C−
…
356Brandon County Durham9,50843.5199.6D
…
373Newhaven East Sussex12,85751.118.426D
374Todmorden West Yorkshire12,97152.317.216.7D
375Bargod Gwent8,03452.418.812.5D
376Crook County Durham9,71745.42613.1D
377Oswaldtwistle Lancashire10,81048.82312.7D
378Dinnington South Yorkshire10,96247.324.910.6D
379Holywell Clwyd7,74152.121.218.4D
…
387Annfield Plain County Durham7,78650.624.510.8D
…
411City of London London7,820252.8111.5710D−

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 Crook, and others in County Durham.

Trend · monthly

How crime in Crook has moved

“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 +15% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +32% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +7% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -10% (towns its size +0%).

1,000 residents · one year

Crime in Crook per 1,000 residents

Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Shoplifting & theft (not graded)
458
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
277
homes & vehicles
122
shoplifting & theft
89
of the three, per 1,000

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 29 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.

What happened next

Police in Crook identify a suspect more often than across UK towns

Violent crime
Crook
All UK towns
Homes & vehicles
Crook
All UK towns
Went to courtSuspect identified, unable to prosecuteNo suspect identifiedCaution, local resolution, otherStill open

No suspect was identified for 63% of Crook’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 8% 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. 738 crimes.

Where in Crook

Where in Crook police recorded crime

Public places police.uk named crimes and ASB, 3 years
At or nearReportsMostly
Supermarkets40230% anti-social behaviour
Car parks24637% anti-social behaviour
Sports and recreation grounds3738% anti-social behaviour

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 Crook. We show only these, never streets or homes.

Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.

On the roads

No one died in a collision on Crook’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 26 collisions with injuries inside Crook in five years. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.

Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Crook is one of them.

Counting serious injuries too, a town of Crook’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 8 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Crook had 8.

0
people killed, 2021–2025
8
killed or seriously injured
2
of them on foot
1
of them on a bicycle

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 Crook’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Crook

ABCD
TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesSafety
Crook9,71745.426D
Billy Row1,25425.512.5C+
Willington5,68558.433.1D−
Tow Law1,79643.820D
Toft Hill and High Etherley1,86513.912.7B+
Esh Winning3,87738.712.6C−
Bishop Auckland23,35956.336.4D−
Wolsingham2,42819.610.4B

Crook records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Willington and Bishop Auckland record more. Billy Row, 1.7 miles away, records 25.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Crook’s 45.4.

Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

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 Crook 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 Crook

Is Crook safe?

Police recorded 45.4 violent and sexual offences and 26 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Crook’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 7% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Crook has less crime per resident than 5%.

Is crime going up in Crook?

In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 15%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 32%, shoplifting and theft rose 7% and anti-social behaviour fell 10%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.

What is the most common crime in Crook?

Violence & sexual offences: 441 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (208) and public order (93), with 280 reports of anti-social behaviour.

How does Crook compare with Bishop Auckland?

Bishop Auckland records 56.3 violent and sexual offences and 36.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Crook’s 45.4 and 26, 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.