Photo: Robert Lamb · CC BY-SA 2.0Brent records theft from the person at 8.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime was up 8% in a year. Compared with the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it records less crime per resident than 60%. The yearly rates were 35.9 violent and sexual offences and 20.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Brent
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 8% more violent crime per resident in Brent 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 10% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 37 UK towns and cities of 238,000 to 460,000 people, Brent has the 13th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lewisham, Lambeth and Newham, higher than Brighton and Hove, Hillingdon and Enfield. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Brent’s C−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 57,502 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Brent 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, Brent runs highest on theft from the person (5.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), robbery (3.8 per 1,000 against 1.4) and drugs (7.4 per 1,000 against 3.8). Other crime and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 11,292 | 33.2 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 10,223 | 30 | 17.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 3,092 | 9.1 | 6.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2,873 | 8.4 | 4.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2,792 | 8.2 | 10.3 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2,521 | 7.4 | 3.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 2,355 | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1,942 | 5.7 | 0.7 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1,763 | 5.2 | 3.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,423 | 4.2 | 7.5 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1,298 | 3.8 | 1.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 478 | 1.4 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 329 | 1 | 1.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 304 | 0.9 | 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.
Police in Brent identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 86% of Brent’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 44% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (38% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% 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. 19,861 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Kenton, Welsh Harp and Brondesbury Park; highest in Wembley Park
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenton | 17,514 | 18.3 | 14.3 | |
| Welsh Harp | 17,921 | 20.8 | 15.4 | |
| Brondesbury Park | 13,438 | 20.5 | 19.4 | |
| Sudbury | 13,938 | 27.4 | 13.2 | |
| Tokyngton | 10,011 | 26.5 | 14.4 | |
| Cricklewood & Mapesbury | 14,156 | 21.3 | 19.7 | |
| Preston | 12,664 | 25.6 | 15.9 | |
| Kingsbury | 11,236 | 24.3 | 17.9 | |
| Wembley Central | 17,924 | 33.9 | 12.1 | |
| Queensbury | 17,192 | 26.8 | 20.6 | |
| Alperton | 15,058 | 30.7 | 17.4 | |
| Northwick Park | 12,363 | 37 | 13.8 | |
| Queens Park | 17,158 | 26.8 | 24.5 | |
| Wembley Hill | 15,064 | 39.7 | 14.2 | |
| Barnhill | 11,418 | 39.2 | 19.2 | |
| Dollis Hill | 21,854 | 37 | 24.1 | |
| Willesden Green | 18,955 | 41.2 | 24.4 | |
| Harlesden & Kensal Green | 20,077 | 47.1 | 23.9 | |
| Roundwood | 16,706 | 51.2 | 24.8 | |
| Stonebridge | 20,255 | 46.1 | 30.9 | |
| Kilburn | 17,206 | 47.9 | 30 | |
| Wembley Park | 7,548 | 99.8 | 32.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 6,675 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 6,178 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 4,472 | 28% violent |
| Petrol stations | 3,282 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 1,534 | 43% violent |
| College and university buildings | 532 | 38% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 358 | 33% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 234 | 36% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 219 | 71% anti-social behaviour |
| Nightclubs | 92 | 41% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Wembley Park records 3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Brent. 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 Brent. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Brent’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Brent 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 18 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 24 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Brent’s neighbourhoods rank in England
12% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 21% 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.
Brent’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 Brent 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 +8% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -10% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -13% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -3% (towns its size -2%).
Of 37 towns its size, Brent is 13th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harrow London | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | 16 | C+ |
| 2 | Bexley London | 246,074 | 26.1 | 17.5 | 14.3 | C |
| 3 | Barnet London | 388,572 | 25.3 | 21 | 18.8 | C |
| 4 | Bromley London | 325,469 | 25.7 | 20.8 | 17.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Brighton and Hove East Sussex | 277,096 | 40.8 | 15.4 | 29.7 | C− |
| 11 | Hillingdon London | 307,089 | 33.4 | 23 | 23.6 | C− |
| 12 | Enfield London | 329,822 | 32.6 | 24 | 20.6 | C− |
| 13 | Brent London | 340,611 | 35.9 | 20.8 | 26.2 | C− |
| 14 | Hounslow London | 286,591 | 35.2 | 21.5 | 21.8 | C− |
| 15 | Croydon London | 389,242 | 36.3 | 20.5 | 19.3 | D |
| 16 | Greenwich London | 288,117 | 38.3 | 20.8 | 22.9 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Bradford West Yorkshire | 333,968 | 72.2 | 28.3 | 19.3 | 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 Brent, and others in London.
20 people died in collisions on Brent’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4,102 collisions with injuries inside Brent in five years, in which 20 people died (11 were pedestrians and 1 was a cyclist). 526 people were killed or seriously injured: 192 on foot and 85 on a bicycle.
That is 1.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Brent had 30.9 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). 37% 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 Brent’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Brent
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brent | 340,611 | 35.9 | 20.8 | C− |
| Ealing | 367,271 | 33.6 | 22.2 | C− |
| Harrow | 260,534 | 23.3 | 15.4 | C+ |
| Barnet | 388,572 | 25.3 | 21 | C |
| Camden | 209,342 | 48.8 | 30.5 | D− |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 143,348 | 39.4 | 32 | D |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 182,187 | 39.2 | 23.5 | D |
| Westminster | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | D− |
Brent records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Ealing, 3.7 miles away, records 33.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Brent’s 35.9.
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 Brent 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 Brent
Is Brent safe?
Police recorded 35.9 violent and sexual offences and 20.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Brent’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 15% of UK towns. Among 37 UK towns of 238,000 to 460,000 people, Brent is 13th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Brent?
By council ward, Kenton, Welsh Harp and Brondesbury Park record the least violent and household crime per resident: 18.3, 20.8 and 20.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 99.8 in Wembley Park.
Is crime going up in Brent?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 8%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 10%, shoplifting and theft fell 13% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Brent town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 92 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 41% of them violent, and Wembley Park ward records 99.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Brent?
Violence & sexual offences: 11,292 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (3,092) and vehicle crime (2,873), with 10,223 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Brent compare with Barnet?
Barnet records 25.3 violent and sexual offences and 21 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Brent’s 35.9 and 20.8, 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.