Photo: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0For its size, Gillingham has less crime per resident than 87% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
Overall, it grades B for safety (#13 of 30 in Dorset). Violence recorded locally dropped 14% in a year. For every 1,000 residents, 20.0 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Gillingham
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 14% less violent crime per resident in Gillingham than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 13% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Gillingham has the 65th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Polegate, Sidmouth and Upton, higher than Godalming, Herne and Neston. 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. 14% of Gillingham’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.
Inside Gillingham’s B for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 921 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Gillingham 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
Public order and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 166 | 15.1 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 142 | 12.9 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 58 | 5.3 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 38 | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 25 | 2.3 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 25 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 24 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 21 | 1.9 | 6.1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 9 | 0.8 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 0.3 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
1 in 7 Gillingham residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
62% 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.
Gillingham’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.
Of 393 towns its size, Gillingham is 65th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Verwood Dorset | 13,706 | 12.5 | 5.9 | 6 | A |
| 6 | Corfe Mullen Dorset | 10,036 | 11.9 | 7 | 4.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 12 | Ferndown Dorset | 13,267 | 13.8 | 7.2 | 6.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 38 | West Moors Dorset | 10,432 | 16.9 | 9 | 5.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Godalming Surrey | 10,450 | 20.3 | 8.7 | 10 | B |
| 63 | Herne Kent | 14,874 | 21.7 | 7.6 | 5 | B |
| 64 | Neston Cheshire | 14,963 | 23 | 6.4 | 6.7 | B |
| 65 | Gillingham Dorset | 11,009 | 20 | 9.4 | 8 | B |
| 66 | Swanage Dorset | 9,115 | 21.3 | 8.1 | 7.4 | B |
| 67 | Storrington West Sussex | 8,713 | 18.1 | 11.3 | 5.9 | B |
| 68 | Sherborne Dorset | 10,359 | 21.6 | 7.8 | 8.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 393 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Gillingham, and others in Dorset.
How crime in Gillingham has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +1%), homes and vehicles +13% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -27% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +63% (towns its size -4%).
Police in Gillingham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 58% of Gillingham’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” (57% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 1% 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. 348 crimes.
Crime in Gillingham 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Gillingham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 36 collisions with injuries inside Gillingham in five years. 10 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Gillingham’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Gillingham’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Gillingham had 18.7 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Gillingham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Gillingham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillingham | 11,009 | 20 | 9.4 | B |
| Motcombe | 1,366 | 3.2 | 2.7 | A+ |
| Mere | 2,808 | 18.2 | 11 | B |
| Shaftesbury | 9,163 | 22.3 | 14.4 | C+ |
| Marnhull | 1,466 | 11.6 | 8.2 | A− |
| Wincanton | 6,744 | 37.7 | 12.6 | C− |
| Templecombe | 1,657 | 29 | 7.2 | C+ |
| Henstridge | 1,579 | 41.4 | 12.7 | C− |
Gillingham records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Motcombe, 2.8 miles away, records 3.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Gillingham’s 20.
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 Gillingham 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 Gillingham
Is Gillingham safe?
Police recorded 20 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Gillingham’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 57% of UK towns. Among 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Gillingham is 65th from the least crime. 14% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Gillingham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 14%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 13%, shoplifting and theft fell 27% and anti-social behaviour rose 63%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Gillingham?
Violence & sexual offences: 166 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (58) and other theft (38), with 142 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Gillingham compare with Frome?
Frome records 39.8 violent and sexual offences and 12.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Gillingham’s 20 and 9.4, 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.