Crime in Bracknell Forest: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,285), anti-social behaviour (1,168) and shoplifting (763) made up 61% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 238th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest quarter.

Recorded crime in Bracknell Forest peaked in the year to August 2024 (9,180 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (6,561). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 31%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and theft from the person (82% below) and possession of weapons (61% below) were well below it. On the year before, drugs rose from 211 to 261 and possession of weapons rose from 40 to 49, while theft from the person fell from 58 to 40 and burglary fell from 279 to 220.

What each category covers: crime categories.

6,881 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Bracknell Forest in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 52.6 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 7% on the year ending March 2025 (7,433), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Bracknell Forest had the 44th lowest rate (the street-level ranking above is among the 302 districts with street-level pages on this site, over the 12 months to August 2026).

Offences recorded in Bracknell Forest, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,098 offences (16% of the total). No category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate. Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.14 times), robbery of personal property (0.34 times) and possession of weapons (0.36 times).

The largest rises on the year were in rape (+16%) and possession of drugs (+12%). The largest falls were in theft from the person (from 79 to 32) and residential burglary (−31%). Robbery of business property and shoplifting are not compared with the year ending March 2025: from April 2025 the Home Office Counting Rules were clarified so that a theft from a shop in which violence is used or threatened against staff or anyone else is recorded as robbery of business property rather than shoplifting (ONS).

Recorded crime in Bracknell Forest since the year ending March 2013

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2013 to 2026. Bracknell Forest's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 14 years. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the Thames Valley Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 13 districts in the Thames Valley Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Bracknell Forest had the 5th lowest rate.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables (released 23 July 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. Financial years, excluding fraud; how they differ from the street-level figures: methodology.

4 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Bracknell Forest; the highest is Reading district (112.0 per 1,000) and the lowest Hart (44.2).

Of the 22 areas within Bracknell Forest, Town Centre & The Parks had the highest crime rate (247.3 per 1,000) and Winkfield Row the lowest (19.0), 13 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 24% of the crime recorded in Bracknell Forest over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (525).

Of the 7,422 crimes in Bracknell Forest with a recorded outcome, 33% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.0% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,168 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Bracknell Forest has an estimated population of 130,806 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (11%, against 23%), fewer students (5.6%, against 7.9%) and fewer residents with no qualifications (13%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Bracknell Forest average decile 7.9 (1 = most deprived), less deprived than average.

Police-recorded crime from data.police.uk (September 2017 to August 2026), ONS population estimates and Census 2021. Definitions and limitations: methodology.