Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0Knowsley records public order at 4.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence fell 12% in a year. Per 1,000 residents a year, 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 15.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded. Knowsley’s overall Safety Grade is C: more crime per resident than 66% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, 17% record more crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Knowsley
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Knowsley than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Knowsley has the 433rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hopton on Sea, Penmaenmawr and Llandybie, higher than Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Smalley and Stoke Mandeville. 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. 49% of Knowsley’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
What’s behind Knowsley’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 286 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Knowsley 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, Knowsley runs highest on public order (11.5 per 1,000 against 2.4), criminal damage & arson (9.8 per 1,000 against 3.2) and anti-social behaviour (11.5 per 1,000 against 5.3).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 50 | 21.3 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 27 | 11.5 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 27 | 11.5 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 23 | 9.8 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 8 | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 7 | 3 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 7 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 3 | 1.1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 6 | 2.6 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 2.1 | 2.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Police in Knowsley identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 82% of Knowsley’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 19% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (64% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 0% 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. 108 crimes.
Set against 550 towns its size, Knowsley is 433rd
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 112 | Hightown Merseyside | 2,018 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 430 | Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen West Glamorgan | 2,744 | 33.2 | 7.2 | 2.6 | C |
| 431 | Smalley Derbyshire | 2,201 | 32.1 | 8.3 | 4.2 | C |
| 432 | Stoke Mandeville Buckinghamshire | 2,855 | 28.5 | 12.1 | 7.7 | C |
| 433 | Knowsley Merseyside | 2,345 | 25.2 | 15.5 | 4.8 | C |
| 434 | Terrington St Clement Norfolk | 2,792 | 34.6 | 6.1 | 6.2 | C |
| 435 | Bermuda Warwickshire | 2,071 | 22.7 | 18.1 | 15.8 | C |
| 436 | Castlederg Derry City and Strabane | 2,980 | 32.2 | 8.8 | 7.2 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Knowsley, and others in Merseyside.
How crime in Knowsley has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 -12% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +41% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Knowsley 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 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Knowsley’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 7 collisions with injuries inside Knowsley in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Knowsley is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Knowsley’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Knowsley had 1.
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 Knowsley’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Knowsley
Knowsley records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Aintree, 4.2 miles away, records 24.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Knowsley’s 25.2.
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 Knowsley 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 Knowsley
Is Knowsley safe?
Police recorded 25.2 violent and sexual offences and 15.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Knowsley’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 34% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Knowsley is 433rd from the least crime. 49% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Knowsley?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 41%, shoplifting and theft fell 8% and anti-social behaviour rose 69%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Knowsley?
Violence & sexual offences: 50 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (27) and criminal damage & arson (23), with 27 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Knowsley compare with Liverpool?
Liverpool records 54 violent and sexual offences and 20.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Knowsley’s 25.2 and 15.5, 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.