Photo: Richard Croft · CC BY-SA 2.0For violent crime, Richmond trails 66% of UK towns per resident
Shoplifting stands out: 3.1 per 1,000 residents in Richmond, against 1.8 in a typical town its size, with 25 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Taking everything together, Richmond scores C+ (#32 of 54 in North Yorkshire): more crime per resident than 60% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 18% in a year. Its police logs show 29.0 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 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 Richmond
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 18% more violent crime per resident in Richmond 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 28% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Richmond has the 218th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Godmanchester, Pickering and Buntingford, higher than Pencoed, Great Dunmow and Penkridge. 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. 34% of Richmond’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 Richmond’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 906 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Richmond against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A third of Richmond residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
52% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Richmond’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.
Police in Richmond identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 53% of Richmond’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 4% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 9% 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. 331 crimes.
How crime in Richmond 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 +18% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +28% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +26% (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, Richmond runs highest on shoplifting (3.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), anti-social behaviour (13.9 per 1,000 against 8.8) and violence & sexual offences (30.1 per 1,000 against 22.4). Public order sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 243 | 30.1 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 112 | 13.9 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 42 | 5.2 | 4.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 25 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 25 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 21 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 1.9 | 2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 11 | 1.4 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 11 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 7 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 7 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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.
Crime in Richmond 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Richmond is 218th of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Haxby North Yorkshire | 10,176 | 11.7 | 5.4 | 8.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Strensall North Yorkshire | 6,060 | 14.5 | 3.5 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 132 | Norton-on-Derwent North Yorkshire | 7,909 | 23 | 7.4 | 8.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 152 | Tadcaster North Yorkshire | 6,339 | 21.8 | 10.3 | 6.4 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 215 | Pencoed Mid Glamorgan | 9,119 | 28.3 | 8.7 | 5.9 | C+ |
| 216 | Great Dunmow Essex | 10,395 | 24 | 13 | 6.8 | C+ |
| 217 | Penkridge Staffordshire | 8,364 | 27.5 | 9.8 | 6.9 | C+ |
| 218 | Richmond North Yorkshire | 8,076 | 29 | 8.4 | 5.7 | C+ |
| 219 | Ledbury Herefordshire | 8,344 | 26.7 | 10.8 | 7.6 | C+ |
| 220 | Barrow upon Soar Leicestershire | 6,823 | 24.1 | 13.5 | 6.8 | C+ |
| 221 | Whitwick Leicestershire | 10,455 | 26 | 11.6 | 7.7 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 430 | 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 Richmond, and others in North Yorkshire.
Where in Richmond police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 84 | 56% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 30 | 37% violent |
| Petrol stations | 27 | 30% anti-social behaviour |
| Police stations | 25 | 40% violent |
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 Richmond. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Richmond’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 33 collisions with injuries inside Richmond in five years. 7 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Richmond is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Richmond’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 7 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Richmond had 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 Richmond’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Richmond
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 8,076 | 29 | 8.4 | C+ |
| Catterick Garrison | 14,212 | 26.9 | 6.1 | B− |
| Brompton-on-Swale | 1,899 | 19.5 | 7.4 | B |
| Catterick | 2,718 | 15.6 | 3.1 | A |
| Scorton | 1,011 | 11.5 | 5.6 | A |
| Leyburn | 2,414 | 12.6 | 2.6 | A |
| Hurworth-on-Tees | 2,667 | 19.1 | 6 | B+ |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 10.7 | 10.4 | A− |
Richmond records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Catterick Garrison, 2.4 miles away, records 26.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Richmond’s 29.
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 Richmond 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 Richmond
Is Richmond safe?
Police recorded 29 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Richmond’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 40% of UK towns. Among 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Richmond is 218th from the least crime. 34% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Richmond?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 18%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 28%, shoplifting and theft rose 26% 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 Richmond?
Violence & sexual offences: 243 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (42) and shoplifting (25), with 112 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Richmond compare with Darlington?
Darlington records 45.2 violent and sexual offences and 25.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Richmond’s 29 and 8.4, 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.