Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0Broomfield records more crime per resident than almost every UK town
With 277 cases in the 12 months to August 2026, violent crime reaches 79.3 per 1,000 residents in Broomfield, well above the typical 22.4. That puts it at D− for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Police counts work out at 95.6 violent and sexual offences and 26.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Broomfield
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Broomfield 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Broomfield: D− for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 1,282 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Broomfield 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, Broomfield runs highest on violence & sexual offences (79.3 per 1,000 against 22.4), public order (12 per 1,000 against 3.6) and other theft (10.9 per 1,000 against 3.2).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 277 | 79.3 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 45 | 12.9 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 42 | 12 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 38 | 10.9 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 33 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 5.4 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 4.6 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 8 | 2.3 | 0.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 1.4 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 1.1 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
“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.
How Broomfield compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Great Totham Essex | 2,773 | 8.9 | 2.6 | 2.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 125 | Doddinghurst Essex | 4,067 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 155 | Tollesbury Essex | 2,811 | 14 | 4.7 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 254 | Rowhedge Essex | 2,492 | 16.3 | 5.9 | 3.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1084 | Denaby Main South Yorkshire | 4,310 | 67.7 | 32 | 19.6 | D− |
| 1085 | Hatfield Woodhouse South Yorkshire | 2,208 | 97.5 | 7.3 | 2.6 | D− |
| 1086 | Rhymney Gwent | 4,998 | 67.7 | 39.8 | 13.2 | D− |
| 1087 | Broomfield Essex | 3,491 | 95.6 | 26.8 | 13.1 | D− |
| 1088 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | D− |
| 1089 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Broomfield, and others in Essex.
How Broomfield’s neighbourhoods rank in England
0% 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.
Broomfield’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.
Crime in Broomfield 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 23 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 15 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime down 12% in a year, while towns its size held steady
“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 -12% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +4% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +8% (towns its size +2%).
Police in Broomfield identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 60% of Broomfield’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (65% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% 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. 524 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Broomfield’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 26 collisions with injuries inside Broomfield in five years. 9 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Broomfield is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Broomfield’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Broomfield had 9.
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 Broomfield’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Broomfield
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broomfield | 3,491 | 95.6 | 26.8 | D− |
| Little Waltham | 1,038 | 21.2 | 11.9 | B− |
| Chelmsford | 110,612 | 44.5 | 15.2 | D |
| Boreham | 3,561 | 26 | 11 | C+ |
| Writtle | 4,703 | 17.4 | 11.5 | B |
| Great Leighs | 2,968 | 19.5 | 6.2 | B+ |
| Galleywood | 6,410 | 26.9 | 12.1 | C+ |
| Hatfield Peverel | 3,622 | 32.8 | 12.5 | C |
Broomfield records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Little Waltham, 1.2 miles away, records 21.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Broomfield’s 95.6.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 560 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Broomfield’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Broomfield 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 Broomfield
Is Broomfield safe?
Police recorded 95.6 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 Broomfield’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: behind almost every UK town. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Broomfield has less crime per resident than 0%.
Is crime going up in Broomfield?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 8% and anti-social behaviour rose 175%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Broomfield?
Violence & sexual offences: 277 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (45) and public order (42), with 33 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Broomfield compare with Chelmsford?
Chelmsford records 44.5 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Broomfield’s 95.6 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 · 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.