Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Compared with UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Bexley has less crime per resident than 88% of them
Theft from the person runs at 1 per 1,000 residents in Bexley, against 0.7 in a typical town its size: police recorded 247 in the 12 months to August 2026. Overall, it grades C for safety (#6 of 33 in London). Add to that, violent crime was up 9% in a year. Out of every 1,000 residents, 26.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bexley
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Bexley than in the year before; across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 17% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 46 UK towns and cities of 172,000 to 332,000 people, Bexley has the 5th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Swindon, Warrington and Redbridge, higher than Harrow, Merton and Sutton. 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. 10% of Bexley’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 11% 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.
Inside Bexley’s C for safety
A firm grade. Built on 32,043 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bexley against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in Bexley identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 85% of Bexley’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 41% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (40% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 2% 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. 11,440 crimes.
Of 46 towns its size, Bexley is 5th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| 2 | Harrow London | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | 16 | C+ |
| 3 | Merton London | 214,931 | 24.2 | 14.8 | 16.1 | C+ |
| 4 | Sutton London | 208,858 | 27.1 | 14.6 | 13.3 | C |
| 5 | Bexley London | 246,074 | 26.1 | 17.5 | 14.3 | C |
| 6 | Bromley London | 325,469 | 25.7 | 20.8 | 17.4 | C |
| 7 | Wandsworth London | 326,725 | 27.7 | 18.9 | 23 | C |
| 8 | Havering London | 259,401 | 29 | 18.1 | 17.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 11 | Redbridge London | 309,509 | 31.1 | 17.7 | 18.7 | C− |
| 12 | Waltham Forest London | 278,129 | 28.5 | 21 | 23.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Hillingdon London | 307,089 | 33.4 | 23 | 23.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 46 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | 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 Bexley, and others in London.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Bexley runs highest on theft from the person (1 per 1,000 against 0.7), vehicle crime (6.8 per 1,000 against 4.9) and robbery (1.7 per 1,000 against 1.4). Criminal damage & arson and other crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 6,210 | 25.2 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 4,235 | 17.2 | 17.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,753 | 7.1 | 10.3 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1,663 | 6.8 | 4.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,298 | 5.3 | 7.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1,230 | 5 | 6.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,024 | 4.2 | 7.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 877 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 797 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 419 | 1.7 | 1.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 279 | 1.1 | 2.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 247 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 124 | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 62 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
How crime in Bexley has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +9% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -17% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -6% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +17% (towns its size -2%).
1 in 10 Bexley residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
35% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 11% 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.
Bexley’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.
Lowest recorded crime in Blendon & Penhill, West Heath and Blackfen & Lamorbey; highest in Erith
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blendon & Penhill | 15,632 | 13 | 12.3 | |
| West Heath | 15,940 | 14 | 11.9 | |
| Blackfen & Lamorbey | 16,719 | 14.9 | 11.9 | |
| East Wickham | 15,628 | 19.2 | 12 | |
| Crook Log | 15,260 | 19.1 | 13.8 | |
| Barnehurst | 11,681 | 21 | 12.4 | |
| Sidcup | 15,422 | 19.5 | 14.8 | |
| Northumberland Heath | 11,137 | 24.2 | 12.1 | |
| Falconwood & Welling | 16,577 | 19.5 | 17.3 | |
| St Mary's & St James | 10,613 | 19.3 | 22.2 | |
| Longlands | 10,082 | 26.3 | 16.8 | |
| Crayford | 16,285 | 28 | 23.1 | |
| Belvedere | 17,692 | 30.7 | 21.5 | |
| Thamesmead East | 15,933 | 34.4 | 23.3 | |
| Slade Green & Northend | 12,752 | 41.1 | 21.3 | |
| Bexleyheath | 15,617 | 50 | 21 | |
| Erith | 13,104 | 46.7 | 25.1 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 4,428 | 57% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 2,652 | 28% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 1,295 | 34% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 1,187 | 47% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 636 | 41% violent |
| College and university buildings | 331 | 27% anti-social behaviour |
| Hospitals | 252 | 63% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 243 | 36% violent |
| Nightclubs | 169 | 48% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 59 | 41% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Bexleyheath records 2.1× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Bexley. 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 Bexley. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Bexley’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Bexley 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 13 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
11 people died in collisions on Bexley’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 1,906 collisions with injuries inside Bexley in five years, in which 11 people died (5 were pedestrians and 2 were cyclists). 366 people were killed or seriously injured: 106 on foot and 61 on a bicycle.
That is 0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Bexley had 29.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 29% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Bexley’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bexley
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bexley | 246,074 | 26.1 | 17.5 | C |
| Joyden's Wood | 4,912 | 12.5 | 11.7 | B+ |
| Greenwich | 288,117 | 38.3 | 20.8 | D |
| Dartford | 69,131 | 43.5 | 20.8 | D |
| Hextable | 4,100 | 22.4 | 14.3 | C+ |
| Purfleet-on-Thames | 5,881 | 36.2 | 31.2 | D |
| Swanley | 17,209 | 35.7 | 16.8 | C− |
| Hawley | 1,386 | 18.5 | 9.1 | B |
Bexley records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Joyden's Wood, 2.9 miles away, records 12.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bexley’s 26.1.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 252 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Bexley’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 Bexley 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 Bexley
Is Bexley safe?
Police recorded 26.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bexley’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 29% of UK towns. Among 46 UK towns of 172,000 to 332,000 people, Bexley is 5th from the least crime. 10% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Bexley?
By council ward, Blendon & Penhill, West Heath and Blackfen & Lamorbey record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13, 14 and 14.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 46.7 in Erith.
Is crime going up in Bexley?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 17%, shoplifting and theft fell 6% and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Bexley town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 169 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 48% of them violent, and Bexleyheath ward records 50 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in June and was lowest in January.
What is the most common crime in Bexley?
Violence & sexual offences: 6,210 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (1,753) and vehicle crime (1,663), with 4,235 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bexley compare with Newham?
Newham records 38.9 violent and sexual offences and 23 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bexley’s 26.1 and 17.5, 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.