Photo: Mark.murphy at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Per resident, Bovingdon records less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than two in three UK towns
Taking everything together, Bovingdon scores B (#17 of 50 in Hertfordshire): close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Behind the grade sit 21.8 violent and sexual offences and 7.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year. Recorded violence fell 11% in a year. Set against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 61% of them.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bovingdon
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Bovingdon than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Bovingdon has the 187th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Knebworth, Menston and Cross Hills, higher than East Boldon and West Boldon, Liss and Olney. 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. 40% of Bovingdon’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.
What’s behind Bovingdon’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 469 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bovingdon 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, Bovingdon runs highest on other crime (7.5 per 1,000 against 1.5), burglary (2.3 per 1,000 against 1.9) and anti-social behaviour (10.4 per 1,000 against 8.8). Other theft and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 117 | 22 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 55 | 10.4 | 8.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 40 | 7.5 | 1.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 18 | 3.4 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 12 | 2.3 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 12 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 10 | 1.9 | 3.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 9 | 1.7 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“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.
A third of Bovingdon residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
80% 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.
Bovingdon’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.
How crime in Bovingdon 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 -11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -14% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour +2% (towns its size +0%).
Police in Bovingdon identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 76% of Bovingdon’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 3% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (73% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 17% of violent and 5% 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. 137 crimes.
187th of 518: Bovingdon among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Moor Park Hertfordshire | 5,850 | 10.2 | 8.5 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 117 | Chiswell Green Hertfordshire | 6,681 | 16.7 | 8.4 | 6.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Bricket Wood Hertfordshire | 4,624 | 17.9 | 8.2 | 3.4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 147 | Cuffley Hertfordshire | 4,350 | 12.6 | 14.7 | 4.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 184 | East Boldon and West Boldon Tyne and Wear | 6,795 | 16.9 | 12.4 | 13.2 | B |
| 185 | Liss Hampshire | 4,749 | 21.4 | 7.9 | 3.7 | B |
| 186 | Olney Buckinghamshire | 6,600 | 21.9 | 7.5 | 8.2 | B |
| 187 | Bovingdon Hertfordshire | 5,313 | 21.8 | 7.6 | 2.5 | B |
| 188 | Meopham Kent | 4,349 | 17.1 | 12.3 | 5.4 | B |
| 189 | Brookmans Park Hertfordshire | 4,033 | 20.1 | 9.4 | 6.5 | B |
| 190 | Lawford Essex | 4,488 | 21.2 | 8.4 | 10 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 518 | Stainforth South Yorkshire | 5,999 | 72.5 | 49.7 | 14.4 | 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 Bovingdon, and others in Hertfordshire.
Crime in Bovingdon 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 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 3 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
One person died in collisions on Bovingdon’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 3 collisions with injuries inside Bovingdon in five years, in which one person died (1 was a cyclist). 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 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, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Bovingdon’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bovingdon’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bovingdon had 1.
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 Bovingdon’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bovingdon
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovingdon | 5,313 | 21.8 | 7.6 | B |
| Chipperfield | 1,678 | 15.5 | 9.7 | B+ |
| Berkhamsted | 21,236 | 16.3 | 11.4 | B |
| Chesham | 23,691 | 26.2 | 13.5 | C+ |
| Potten End | 1,270 | 11 | 7.1 | A |
| Hemel Hempstead | 95,995 | 36.3 | 17.1 | C− |
| Little Chalfont | 6,506 | 21 | 13.2 | B− |
| Amersham | 17,377 | 18.6 | 9.7 | B |
Bovingdon records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Chipperfield, 2.2 miles away, records 15.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bovingdon’s 21.8.
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
- A prison inside the boundary. police.uk counted 400 at or near a prison (52% violent) over three years. They count in Bovingdon’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 Bovingdon 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 Bovingdon
Is Bovingdon safe?
Police recorded 21.8 violent and sexual offences and 7.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bovingdon’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 57% of UK towns. Among 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Bovingdon is 187th from the least crime. 40% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Bovingdon?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 14%, shoplifting and theft rose 75% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bovingdon?
Violence & sexual offences: 117 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other crime (40) and criminal damage & arson (18), with 55 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bovingdon compare with Watford?
Watford records 36.1 violent and sexual offences and 16.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bovingdon’s 21.8 and 7.6, 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.