Photo: Brian Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0Swanscombe stands out for possession of weapons: 3.3 times the rate of a typical town its size
Year on year, 36.8 violent and sexual offences and 21.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here is higher than in 80% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 93%. Swanscombe grades D for safety overall (#66 of 87 in Kent): more crime per resident than 86% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violence fell 11% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Swanscombe
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Swanscombe 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 8% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 341 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, Swanscombe has the 270th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Porth, Stanwell and Northallerton, higher than Swinton, Buxton and Staveley. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
55% of Swanscombe’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.
Inside Swanscombe’s D for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 2,679 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Swanscombe against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
55% of Swanscombe residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 55% 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.
Swanscombe’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Swanscombe runs highest on possession of weapons (2.3 per 1,000 against 0.7), robbery (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.5) and vehicle crime (6.7 per 1,000 against 2.8). Public order and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 449 | 29 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 284 | 18.4 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 165 | 10.7 | 6.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 104 | 6.7 | 2.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 103 | 6.7 | 4.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 60 | 3.9 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 55 | 3.6 | 5.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 55 | 3.6 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 45 | 2.9 | 6.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 36 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 36 | 2.3 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 21 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 5 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 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.
Among 341 towns its size, Swanscombe ranks 270th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Herne Kent | 14,874 | 21.7 | 7.6 | 5 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley Kent | 16,077 | 17.1 | 13.4 | 10.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Hythe Kent | 14,613 | 24.6 | 8.9 | 8.7 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 168 | Minster (Swale) Kent | 16,735 | 29 | 13 | 6.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 267 | Swinton South Yorkshire | 15,911 | 41.2 | 16.4 | 8 | D |
| 268 | Buxton Derbyshire | 20,048 | 43.8 | 14.1 | 17.1 | D |
| 269 | Staveley Derbyshire | 15,151 | 44.7 | 13.3 | 10.5 | D |
| 270 | Swanscombe Kent | 15,462 | 36.8 | 21.3 | 11.2 | D |
| 271 | Liversedge West Yorkshire | 17,519 | 41.6 | 16.8 | 8.4 | D |
| 272 | Leatherhead Surrey | 11,482 | 40.3 | 18.5 | 26.6 | D |
| 273 | Houghton Regis Bedfordshire | 18,814 | 40.5 | 18.4 | 11.5 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 341 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Swanscombe, and others in Kent.
How crime in Swanscombe 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 -11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -8% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -14% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +50% (towns its size -4%).
Crime in Swanscombe 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 20 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 66% of Swanscombe’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% 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 6% 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. 967 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Greenhithe & Knockhall, Stone Castle and Swanscombe; highest in Swanscombe
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhithe & Knockhall | 7,486 | 27.6 | 14.4 | |
| Stone Castle | 956 | 34.2 | 17.4 | |
| Swanscombe | 7,020 | 46.3 | 29.1 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 380 | 45% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 116 | 33% violent |
| Petrol stations | 45 | 38% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 40 | 35% violent |
| Shopping areas | 21 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Swanscombe records 1.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Swanscombe. 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 Swanscombe. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Swanscombe’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Swanscombe’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 90 collisions with injuries inside Swanscombe in five years. 11 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 1 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 Swanscombe’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Swanscombe’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Swanscombe had 14.2 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).
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 Swanscombe’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Swanscombe
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanscombe | 15,462 | 36.8 | 21.3 | D |
| Ebbsfleet Valley | 2,989 | 50.5 | 27.3 | D− |
| Stone | 6,438 | 54.7 | 28.2 | D− |
| Bean | 1,633 | 27.6 | 16.5 | C |
| Northfleet | 29,892 | 45 | 20.6 | D |
| Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock | 23,589 | 39.9 | 33.1 | D |
| Darenth | 2,588 | 28.6 | 19.3 | C− |
| Grays | 44,340 | 37.3 | 19.3 | C− |
Swanscombe records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Bean, 1.5 miles away, records 27.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Swanscombe’s 36.8.
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
- 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 Swanscombe 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 Swanscombe
Is Swanscombe safe?
Police recorded 36.8 violent and sexual offences and 21.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Swanscombe’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 14% of UK towns. Among 341 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, Swanscombe is 270th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Swanscombe?
By council ward, Greenhithe & Knockhall, Stone Castle and Swanscombe record the least violent and household crime per resident: 27.6, 34.2 and 46.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 46.3 in Swanscombe.
Is crime going up in Swanscombe?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 8%, shoplifting and theft fell 14% and anti-social behaviour rose 50%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Swanscombe?
Violence & sexual offences: 449 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (165) and vehicle crime (104), with 284 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Swanscombe 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 Swanscombe’s 36.8 and 21.3, 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.