Photo: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0Whitfield records shoplifting at 6.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
In sum, crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put Whitfield at C− (#49 of 87 in Kent): more crime per resident than 76% of UK towns. It has more violent crime than 74% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 79%. By contrast, recorded violence fell 31% in a year. Violence and property crime split as 33.2 violent and sexual offences and 14.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Whitfield
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 31% less violent crime per resident in Whitfield 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 rose 49% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 481 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people, Whitfield has the 353rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Hoo St Werburgh and Holbeach, higher than Wixams, Pontardawe and Bursledon. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Whitfield: C− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 935 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Whitfield against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Whitfield 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 -31% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +49% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +11% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -1% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Whitfield runs highest on shoplifting (11.7 per 1,000 against 1.8), drugs (3.2 per 1,000 against 1) and vehicle crime (4.6 per 1,000 against 2). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 172 | 26.4 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 107 | 16.4 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 76 | 11.7 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 57 | 8.8 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 39 | 6 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 30 | 4.6 | 2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 21 | 3.2 | 1 |
| Public order | not graded | 19 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 18 | 2.8 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 14 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 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.
353rd of 481: Whitfield among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Bearsted Kent | 8,349 | 14.8 | 7.1 | 4.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 76 | Otford and Kemsing Kent | 7,332 | 12.6 | 11.9 | 5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 119 | Littlestone-on-Sea Kent | 5,271 | 21.4 | 6.1 | 2.8 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 151 | Rusthall and Langton Green Kent | 7,783 | 21.8 | 8.1 | 3.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 350 | Wixams Bedfordshire | 6,044 | 35 | 12.4 | 6.5 | C− |
| 351 | Pontardawe West Glamorgan | 5,539 | 39.3 | 8.3 | 7.5 | C− |
| 352 | Bursledon Hampshire | 8,072 | 33.8 | 14 | 11.4 | C− |
| 353 | Whitfield Kent | 6,509 | 33.2 | 14.7 | 16.8 | C− |
| 354 | Haworth West Yorkshire | 5,680 | 30.4 | 17.5 | 9.2 | C− |
| 355 | Amble Northumberland | 5,852 | 30.9 | 17.3 | 14.6 | C− |
| 356 | Pembury Kent | 5,783 | 36.8 | 11.5 | 8.5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 481 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Whitfield, and others in Kent.
How Whitfield’s neighbourhoods rank in England
54% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 9% 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.
Whitfield’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 Whitfield 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 16 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 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 70% of Whitfield’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 16% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (60% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 3% 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. 334 crimes.
Where in Whitfield police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 317 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 47 | 36% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 44 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 35 | 34% homes & vehicles |
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 Whitfield. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Whitfield’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 71 collisions with injuries inside Whitfield in five years, in which one person died. 18 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, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Whitfield’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Whitfield had 55.3 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Whitfield’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Whitfield
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitfield | 6,509 | 33.2 | 14.7 | C− |
| Guston | 1,684 | 7.5 | 4.4 | A+ |
| Dover | 36,349 | 65.9 | 21.9 | D− |
| Eythorne | 1,487 | 22.2 | 8.1 | B |
| Sibertswold | 1,619 | 20.8 | 7.7 | B |
| St Margaret's at Cliffe | 2,399 | 21.5 | 8.8 | B |
| Kingsdown | 1,687 | 18.2 | 5.1 | B+ |
| Capel-le-Ferne | 1,962 | 13.4 | 7.7 | A− |
Whitfield records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Dover records more. Guston, 1.7 miles away, records 7.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Whitfield’s 33.2.
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 Whitfield 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 Whitfield
Is Whitfield safe?
Police recorded 33.2 violent and sexual offences and 14.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Whitfield’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 24% of UK towns. Among 481 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people, Whitfield is 353rd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Whitfield?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 31%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 49%, shoplifting and theft rose 11% 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 Whitfield?
Violence & sexual offences: 172 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (76) and criminal damage & arson (57), with 107 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Whitfield compare with Folkestone?
Folkestone records 49.7 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Whitfield’s 33.2 and 14.7, 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.