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Safety in Bearsden · Scottish Government, SIMD

Recorded crime in the East Dunbartonshire council area is 51% below Scotland’s rate

Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes street by street, so Bearsden has no Safety Grade and no overall grade until the 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation brings neighbourhood crime figures. What Scotland does publish: crime for the whole East Dunbartonshire council area (280 crimes per 10,000 people in 2025-26), and how Bearsden’s own neighbourhoods rank for crime.

Crimes, East Dunbartonshire
280
per 10,000 people, 2025-26
Scotland 569
Violence
59
non-sexual violent crimes per 10,000
Scotland 136
Cleared up
44%
of recorded crimes, 2025-26
Scotland 57%
SIMD crimes in Bearsden
108
per 10,000 residents, 2017/18
Scotland 276
What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Bearsden

Crime down over ten years

Recorded crime across the East Dunbartonshire council area went from 318 to 280 per 10,000 people between 2016-17 and 2025-26; across Scotland it moved +3%. Ten years ↓

Few crime-deprived neighbourhoods

0% of Bearsden’s residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s small areas with the most crime on SIMD 2020, and 33% in the fifth with the least. Its rate of SIMD crimes, 108 per 10,000 in 2017/18, is 61% below Scotland’s. Neighbourhood ranks ↓

Written from the Scottish Government’s recorded crime and SIMD figures on this page.

By type

What police recorded in the East Dunbartonshire council area in 2025-26

Shoplifting57
Common assault47
Vandalism29
Fraud17
Housebreaking8
Car theft5
Drug supply5
Serious assault3
Domestic abuse3
Robbery1
Violent & sexualHomes, cars & damageOtherScotland

Common assault and robbery sit below Scotland’s rate.

Show every crime group as a table
GroupRecordedPer 10,000Scotland
Non-sexual crimes of violence65159136
Sexual crimes1621530
Crimes of dishonesty (theft, housebreaking, fraud)1,290117213
Damage and reckless behaviour (vandalism, fire-raising)3743469
Crimes against society (drugs, weapons, justice)59854121
Antisocial offences (disorder, threatening behaviour)4404093

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crimes and offences by council area. Groups 1 to 5 are crimes; group 6, antisocial offences, is offences.

Per 10,000 people. The tick on each bar is Scotland’s rate. Every town in the council area shares these figures.

Towns its size

Bearsden is 2nd of 54 Scottish towns of 14,259 to 56,053

#TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000In the most crime-deprived fifth
1Newton Mearns East Renfrewshire28,447990%
2Bearsden East Dunbartonshire28,5071080%
3Erskine Renfrewshire14,8571120%
4St Andrews Fife16,4651170%
5Prestwick South Ayrshire14,5501523%
…
53Alloa Clackmannanshire14,68950242%
54Falkirk Falkirk34,63754742%

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, counting from the fewest: the towns either side of Bearsden, and the ends of the list. Described, not graded.

Neighbourhoods · Scotland-wide rank

1 in 9 Bearsden residents lives in one of Scotland’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods

0%1
0%2
0%3
0%4
2%5
30%6
16%7
20%8
21%9
12%10
Higher crimeLower crime

52% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Scotland’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. Bearsden counted 108 SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, 61% below Scotland’s 276; three years before, 94 (+15%, Scotland -9%).

Scottish Government, SIMD 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (crimes of violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault, 2014/15 and 2017/18). Residents from Scotland’s Census 2022 output areas.

Bearsden’s residents by the crime decile of their small area (2011 data zone, about 800 people) in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Scotland’s 6,976 data zones and 10 the lowest.

Cleared up

44% of crimes in the East Dunbartonshire council area were cleared up, fewer than Scotland’s 57%

All crimes44%
Violence61%
Sexual crimes54%
Dishonesty24%
Damage20%
Against society95%
Violent & sexualHomes, cars & damageOtherScotland

Violence and drugs crimes are cleared up most often, because they are usually recorded with a suspect in view; housebreaking, theft and vandalism least.

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2025-26: crime clear-up rates by council area.

Share of crimes recorded in 2025-26 that were cleared up: a suspect identified and enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal. The tick is Scotland.

Ten years · yearly

Recorded crime down 12% since 2016-17

Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2016-17 to the newest year. Since April 2019 violence includes the new crime of domestic abuse under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.

Per 10,000 people each year, the East Dunbartonshire council area against Scotland. 2016-17 to 2025-26: all crimes -12% (Scotland +3%), violence -5%.

1,000 people · one year

For every 1,000 people in the East Dunbartonshire council area, about 7 violent or sexual crimes in 2025-26

Violent & sexualHousebreaking, car theft & damageOther theft & fraud
813
violent and sexual crimes, East Dunbartonshire, 2025-26
516
housebreaking, car theft & damage
1,148
other theft & fraud
22
of the three, per 1,000

A crime isn’t a victim: one person can suffer several, and crimes in a city centre often involve visitors rather than residents.

And about 5 housebreakings, car thefts or acts of vandalism and fire-raising, plus 10 other thefts and frauds. Each dot is one person; each coloured dot is one recorded crime. These are council-wide figures: every town in the East Dunbartonshire council area shares them.

Where in Bearsden

Fewest SIMD crimes in North Castlehill and Thorn; most in Westerton East

AreaResidentsPer 10,000
North Castlehill and Thorn4,29275
Kilmardinny West3,72283
South Castlehill and Thorn4,183100
Westerton West2,780101
Kilmardinny East3,679103
Kessington East2,893118
Kessington West3,197135
Westerton East3,541161
Below Scotland’s rateAt or above it

0 of Bearsden’s 8 areas are at or above Scotland’s rate of 276 (orange bars). SIMD counts crimes where they were recorded, so an area with a town centre, a station or a hospital records more than its own residents suffer.

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, by small area (2011 data zones, grouped by the names the Scottish Government gives them), fewest first.

On the roads

Two people died in collisions on Bearsden’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 45 collisions with injuries inside Bearsden in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian and 1 was a cyclist). 23 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 6 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 Bearsden’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bearsden’s own rate (1.4) is context, not a ranking.

Counting serious injuries too, Bearsden had 16.1 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).

2
people killed, 2021–2025
23
killed or seriously injured
6
of them on foot
6
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; the towns its size are England and Wales’s. There’s no national rate here: more than two thirds of Scotland’s road deaths (70%) happen outside every town’s locality boundary. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.

Collisions police recorded inside Bearsden’s locality, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Bearsden

Fewest quarterSecondThirdMost SIMD crime
TownPeopleSIMD crimes per 10,000Most crime-deprived fifth
Bearsden28,5071080%
Milngavie12,7581200%
Faifley4,7852270%
Clydebank26,22037134%
Duntocher and Hardgate6,5731640%
Renfrew23,81225625%
Erskine14,8571120%
Bishopbriggs23,75916512%

Bearsden counted less SIMD crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.

SIMD crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18. The map colours each town by the quarter of Scotland’s towns it falls in; they are not grades. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Council areas, not towns. Recorded crime and clear-up rates are published for each of Scotland’s 32 council areas, so every town in the East Dunbartonshire council area shares them. A city centre and a quiet village in the same council show the same figures.
  • SIMD crime is town-level, but old. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counts selected crimes (violence, sexual crimes, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences and common assault) in each small area. SIMD 2020 uses crimes from 2017/18; SIMD 2026, due at the end of 2026, will bring newer figures; we plan to grade Scottish safety on them.
  • Not a grade. Nothing on this page is graded. The towns-its-size ranking and the neighbours’ colours describe SIMD crime rates; they aren’t a Safety Grade and don’t feed one.
  • Recorded, not experienced. Recorded crime is what the police record. It moves with reporting and policing as well as with crime; the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey asks people directly, for Scotland as a whole.

Questions about safety in Bearsden

Is Bearsden safe?

Police Scotland recorded 280 crimes per 10,000 people across the East Dunbartonshire council area in 2025-26, 51% below Scotland’s 569. Within Bearsden, the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation counted 108 of its selected crimes per 10,000 residents in 2017/18, against 276 across Scotland; 0% of residents live in the fifth of Scotland’s neighbourhoods with the most crime. Police Scotland doesn’t publish street-level crime, so Bearsden has no Safety Grade.

How many crimes are solved in the East Dunbartonshire council area?

44% of crimes recorded in 2025-26 were cleared up (someone was identified and there was enough evidence to report them to the procurator fiscal), against 57% across Scotland.

Why doesn’t Bearsden have a Safety Grade?

Our Safety Grade counts crimes inside each town’s boundary. Police Scotland doesn’t publish crimes by location for reuse, so Scottish towns can’t be measured the same way. The 2026 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation will bring newer neighbourhood crime figures.

Sources: Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland (crimes, offences and clear-up rates by council area, 2016-17 to 2025-26); Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2020v2 crime domain and SIMD crime indicators (2014/15, 2017/18), 2011 data zones with Census 2022 residents · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the NRS 2022 locality 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.