Photo: EvaK · CC BY-SA 2.5Harwich sees more crime per resident than 89% of UK towns
The Safety Grade comes out at D, drawn from crimes police recorded inside Harwich’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026: #70 of 81 in Essex. Measured against the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, 19% of them record more crime per resident. Violent crime was up 9% in a year. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 47.6 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 14.8.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Harwich
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Harwich 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 fell 9% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 290 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people, Harwich has the 240th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than St Austell, Coalville and Morpeth, higher than Dunscroft and Hatfield, Clifton and Ryde. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
41% of Harwich’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 5% 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.
What’s behind Harwich’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 3,781 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Harwich against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
41% of Harwich residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
5% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 41% 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.
Harwich’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.
Police in Harwich identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Harwich’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” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% 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. 1,207 crimes.
240th of 290: Harwich among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 8 | Hockley and Hawkwell Essex | 15,430 | 14 | 7.9 | 4.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 14 | South Woodham Ferrers Essex | 16,029 | 17.9 | 6.3 | 9.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 30 | Saffron Walden Essex | 16,609 | 19.1 | 9 | 7.7 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 143 | Maldon Essex | 23,389 | 33.1 | 10.3 | 10.8 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 237 | Dunscroft and Hatfield South Yorkshire | 14,000 | 37.4 | 24.1 | 10.1 | D |
| 238 | Clifton Nottinghamshire | 22,936 | 43.7 | 18.5 | 21 | D |
| 239 | Ryde Isle of Wight | 24,094 | 50.9 | 11.4 | 13.2 | D |
| 240 | Harwich Essex | 20,219 | 47.6 | 14.8 | 11.7 | D |
| 241 | Selby North Yorkshire | 19,480 | 48.2 | 14.7 | 21.6 | D |
| 242 | Risca Gwent | 15,194 | 44.2 | 18.7 | 8.7 | D |
| 243 | Elland West Yorkshire | 15,788 | 45 | 18 | 15.8 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 290 | Rhyl Clwyd | 26,982 | 89.1 | 22.9 | 29 | 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 Harwich, and others in Essex.
Crime in Harwich 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 15 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Harwich runs highest on criminal damage & arson (10.1 per 1,000 against 6.2), violence & sexual offences (48.4 per 1,000 against 30.4) and shoplifting (8.7 per 1,000 against 6.1). Drugs sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 978 | 48.4 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 226 | 11.2 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 205 | 10.1 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 175 | 8.7 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 115 | 5.7 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 110 | 5.4 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 56 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 48 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 44 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 28 | 1.4 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 17 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 15 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 15 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 5 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
“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.
How crime in Harwich 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 +9% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -9% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +35% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +43% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Dovercourt Tollgate, Dovercourt Vines & Parkeston and The Oakleys & Wix; highest in Dovercourt Bay
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dovercourt Tollgate | 2,741 | 12.3 | 2.3 | |
| Dovercourt Vines & Parkeston | 2,051 | 15.9 | 5.4 | |
| The Oakleys & Wix | 943 | 24.4 | 5.3 | |
| Stour Valley | 884 | 43.7 | 11.7 | |
| Harwich & Kingsway | 3,667 | 52.7 | 15.9 | |
| Dovercourt All Saints | 6,693 | 60.5 | 20.1 | |
| Dovercourt Bay | 3,240 | 72.9 | 22.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 274 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 84 | 33% violent |
| Ferry terminals | 36 | 31% violent |
| Car parks | 33 | 39% violent |
| Petrol stations | 25 | 52% violent |
| Police stations | 25 | 84% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Dovercourt Bay records 1.7× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Harwich. 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 Harwich. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Harwich’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Harwich’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 73 collisions with injuries inside Harwich in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 21 people were killed or seriously injured: 8 on foot and 2 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 Harwich’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Harwich’s own rate (1.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Harwich had 20.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as 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 Harwich’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Harwich
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harwich | 20,219 | 47.6 | 14.8 | D |
| Shotley Gate | 1,418 | 12 | 6.8 | A |
| Trimley St Mary | 3,736 | 13.7 | 4.2 | A |
| Felixstowe | 24,218 | 28.1 | 7.9 | C+ |
| Trimley St Martin | 1,725 | 33.6 | 5.2 | C+ |
| Holbrook | 2,146 | 14.9 | 3.7 | A |
| Walton-on-the-Naze | 6,980 | 40.4 | 16 | C− |
| Kirton | 1,245 | 10.4 | 3.8 | A+ |
Harwich records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Shotley Gate, 1.9 miles away, records 12 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Harwich’s 47.6.
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
- 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 Harwich 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 Harwich
Is Harwich safe?
Police recorded 47.6 violent and sexual offences and 14.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Harwich’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 11% of UK towns. Among 290 UK towns of 14,000 to 27,000 people, Harwich is 240th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Harwich?
By council ward, Dovercourt Tollgate, Dovercourt Vines & Parkeston and The Oakleys & Wix record the least violent and household crime per resident: 12.3, 15.9 and 24.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 72.9 in Dovercourt Bay.
Is crime going up in Harwich?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 9%, shoplifting and theft rose 35% and anti-social behaviour rose 43%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Harwich?
Violence & sexual offences: 978 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (205) and shoplifting (175), with 226 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Harwich compare with Felixstowe?
Felixstowe records 28.1 violent and sexual offences and 7.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Harwich’s 47.6 and 14.8, 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.