Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Darenth records shoplifting at 36 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence fell 5% in a year. Per 1,000 residents a year, 28.6 violent and sexual offences and 19.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded. Its Safety Grade, C− (#49 of 87 in Kent), rests on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: more crime per resident than 76% of UK towns. It has more violent crime than 65% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 91%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Darenth
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 5% less violent crime per resident in Darenth 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 fell 18% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Darenth has the 482nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Silloth, Goodwick and Fishburn, higher than Cwm, Kidwelly and Streethay. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
37% of Darenth’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% 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 Darenth’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 372 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Darenth 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, Darenth runs highest on shoplifting (66.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), vehicle crime (7 per 1,000 against 2) and criminal damage & arson (10.4 per 1,000 against 4.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shoplifting | not graded | 171 | 66.1 | 1.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 64 | 24.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 51 | 19.7 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 27 | 10.4 | 4.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 18 | 7 | 2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 11 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 9 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 1.5 | 0.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 3 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 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.
Darenth places 482nd of 550 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 21 | Ightham Kent | 2,037 | 6.1 | 7 | 2.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Cliffe Woods Kent | 2,689 | 11.2 | 6 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Culverstone Green Kent | 2,038 | 11.5 | 7.7 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 235 | Eastry Kent | 2,388 | 19 | 7 | 2.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 479 | Cwm Gwent | 2,507 | 30.3 | 17.4 | 4.5 | C− |
| 480 | Kidwelly Dyfed | 2,761 | 34.1 | 13.7 | 4.8 | C− |
| 481 | Streethay Staffordshire | 2,166 | 37.3 | 10.6 | 9.1 | C− |
| 482 | Darenth Kent | 2,588 | 28.6 | 19.3 | 38.6 | C− |
| 483 | Godstone Surrey | 2,648 | 28.7 | 19.8 | 5.8 | C− |
| 484 | Woolavington Somerset | 2,324 | 37.7 | 10.9 | 9.8 | C− |
| 485 | Loddon Norfolk | 2,247 | 38.6 | 10.5 | 9.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Darenth, and others in Kent.
37% of Darenth residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 37% 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.
Darenth’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 Darenth identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 78% of Darenth’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 5% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (80% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% of violent and 7% 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. 121 crimes.
Crime in Darenth 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 19 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 71 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Darenth 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 -5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -18% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +144% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +9% (towns its size +0%).
No one died in a collision on Darenth’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 14 collisions with injuries inside Darenth in five years. 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 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 Darenth is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Darenth’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Darenth had 5.
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 Darenth’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Darenth
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darenth | 2,588 | 28.6 | 19.3 | C− |
| South Darenth and Sutton at Hone | 4,091 | 22.3 | 18.5 | C |
| Hawley | 1,386 | 18.5 | 9.1 | B |
| Bean | 1,633 | 27.6 | 16.5 | C |
| Stone | 6,438 | 54.7 | 28.2 | D− |
| Horton Kirby | 1,247 | 16.3 | 18.2 | B− |
| Dartford | 69,131 | 43.5 | 20.8 | D |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 50.5 | 27.3 | D− |
Darenth records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. South Darenth and Sutton at Hone, 1.2 miles away, records 22.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Darenth’s 28.6.
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 Darenth 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 Darenth
Is Darenth safe?
Police recorded 28.6 violent and sexual offences and 19.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Darenth’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 24% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Darenth is 482nd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Darenth?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 5%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 18%, shoplifting and theft rose 144% and anti-social behaviour rose 9%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Darenth?
Shoplifting: 171 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came violence & sexual offences (64) and criminal damage & arson (27), with 51 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Darenth compare with Dartford?
Dartford records 43.5 violent and sexual offences and 20.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Darenth’s 28.6 and 19.3, 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.