Photo: Robert Lamb · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Southwark records more crime than 89% of UK towns
That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside Southwark’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #22 of 33 in London. Theft from the person stands out: 23.7 per 1,000 residents in the town, against 0.7 in a typical town its size, with 7,264 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year. Typical years here bring 40.0 violent and sexual offences plus 22.1 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 Southwark
About the middle for a borough its size
Of 41 UK towns and cities of 215,000 to 415,000 people, Southwark has the 22nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Belfast, Plymouth and Northampton, higher than Barking and Dagenham, Lambeth and Newham. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Southwark: D for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 56,767 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Southwark 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, Southwark runs highest on theft from the person (23.7 per 1,000 against 0.7), robbery (6.7 per 1,000 against 1.4) and bicycle theft (3.8 per 1,000 against 0.9). 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 | 10,278 | 33.5 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 9,711 | 31.6 | 17.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 7,264 | 23.7 | 0.7 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5,193 | 16.9 | 6.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3,392 | 11 | 10.3 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2,440 | 7.9 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2,288 | 7.5 | 3.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 2,152 | 7 | 7.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2,053 | 6.7 | 1.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1,874 | 6.1 | 3.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,301 | 4.2 | 7.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1,159 | 3.8 | 0.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 402 | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 334 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
“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 Southwark identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 87% of Southwark’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 49% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (33% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% 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. 18,752 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Peckham Rye, Surrey Docks and Goose Green; highest in Borough & Bankside
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peckham Rye | 10,159 | 15.5 | 13.8 | |
| Surrey Docks | 12,523 | 20.4 | 13.3 | |
| Goose Green | 13,610 | 19.4 | 17.2 | |
| Dulwich Hill | 9,594 | 22.3 | 19.8 | |
| Dulwich Wood | 10,193 | 21.9 | 22.4 | |
| Dulwich Village | 10,250 | 16.9 | 30.1 | |
| Champion Hill | 9,219 | 29.8 | 18.7 | |
| St Giles | 15,942 | 30.2 | 19.9 | |
| Nunhead & Queen's Road | 15,558 | 31 | 19.5 | |
| Rotherhithe | 15,625 | 36.1 | 16.3 | |
| Peckham | 14,785 | 35.4 | 20.9 | |
| Old Kent Road | 19,036 | 37.6 | 21.5 | |
| South Bermondsey | 15,941 | 37.3 | 22.3 | |
| St George's | 8,459 | 42.3 | 17.8 | |
| Newington | 13,438 | 42.3 | 18.1 | |
| Camberwell Green | 15,510 | 42.6 | 19.3 | |
| North Bermondsey | 15,280 | 41.1 | 21.5 | |
| North Walworth | 15,845 | 54.1 | 21.7 | |
| Faraday | 12,466 | 51.3 | 24.6 | |
| Chaucer | 14,734 | 56.6 | 20.5 | |
| London Bridge & West Bermondsey | 15,093 | 52.2 | 27.3 | |
| Rye Lane | 14,473 | 59.5 | 34.5 | |
| Borough & Bankside | 9,012 | 95.5 | 43.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 6,655 | 60% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 6,275 | 64% shoplifting & theft |
| College and university buildings | 2,982 | 52% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 2,023 | 40% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 1,187 | 39% violent |
| Nightclubs | 1,022 | 32% anti-social behaviour |
| Hospitals | 1,022 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 923 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 688 | 56% shoplifting & theft |
| Bus and coach stations | 591 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Borough & Bankside records 2.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Southwark. 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 Southwark. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Southwark’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Southwark 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 55 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How Southwark’s neighbourhoods rank in England
7% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 18% 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.
Southwark’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.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +5% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -17% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +2% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -1% (towns its size -2%).
Towns its size: Southwark comes 22nd of 41
| # | 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 |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Barking and Dagenham London | 218,236 | 40.5 | 20 | 17.5 | D |
| 20 | Lambeth London | 317,108 | 40.1 | 21.2 | 42.3 | D |
| 21 | Newham London | 351,065 | 38.9 | 23 | 39.5 | D |
| 22 | Southwark London | 307,076 | 40 | 22.1 | 54.3 | D |
| 23 | Hackney London | 258,464 | 40.5 | 21.9 | 42.2 | D |
| 24 | Cardiff South Glamorgan | 348,511 | 40 | 22.4 | 26.6 | D |
| 25 | Haringey London | 264,069 | 38.4 | 24.6 | 29 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 41 | 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 Southwark, and others in London.
17 people died in collisions on Southwark’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4,963 collisions with injuries inside Southwark in five years, in which 17 people died (8 were pedestrians and 3 were cyclists). 999 people were killed or seriously injured: 249 on foot and 425 on a bicycle.
That is 1.1 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, Southwark had 65.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 25% 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 Southwark’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Southwark
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwark | 307,076 | 40 | 22.1 | D |
| Lambeth | 317,108 | 40.1 | 21.2 | D |
| City of London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | D− |
| Lewisham | 300,764 | 38.8 | 21.2 | D |
| Tower Hamlets | 311,072 | 43.3 | 23 | D |
| Westminster | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | D− |
| Wandsworth | 326,725 | 27.7 | 18.9 | C |
| Islington | 216,309 | 44.1 | 24.3 | D |
Southwark records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Lambeth, 2.4 miles away, records 40.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Southwark’s 40.
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 1,022 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Southwark’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 Southwark 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 Southwark
Is Southwark safe?
Police recorded 40 violent and sexual offences and 22.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Southwark’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 11% of UK towns. Among 41 UK towns of 215,000 to 415,000 people, Southwark is 22nd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Southwark?
By council ward, Peckham Rye, Surrey Docks and Goose Green record the least violent and household crime per resident: 15.5, 20.4 and 19.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 95.5 in Borough & Bankside.
Is crime going up in Southwark?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 17%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Southwark town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 1,022 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 26% of them violent, and Borough & Bankside ward records 95.5 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 Southwark?
Violence & sexual offences: 10,278 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came theft from the person (7,264) and other theft (5,193), with 9,711 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Southwark compare with Croydon?
Croydon records 36.3 violent and sexual offences and 20.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Southwark’s 40 and 22.1, 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.