Crime in Brent district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (11,246), anti-social behaviour (10,141) and other theft (3,113) made up 58% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 48th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

Recorded crime in Brent district peaked in the year to August 2025 (43,197 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (38,388). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 11%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Brent district recorded notably more theft from the person (3.3 times the national rate), robbery (2.7 times the national rate) and drugs (2.2 times the national rate), and notably less criminal damage and arson (40% below) and other crime (36% below). On the year before, possession of weapons rose from 201 to 323, while criminal damage and arson fell from 1,974 to 1,419 and shoplifting fell from 3,468 to 2,814.

What each category covers: crime categories.

31,528 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Brent district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 89.3 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Brent district had the 83rd highest 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).

Of the crimes recorded in the Metropolitan Police area in the year ending March 2026, 5.5% were not assigned to a district. Those crimes are counted in the force and England and Wales totals but in no district, so the figure for Brent district is an undercount.

No change on the year or longer series is given for Brent district: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Metropolitan Police area not assigned to a district moved from 4.3% in the year ending March 2025 to 5.5% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in Brent district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 4,982 offences (16% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for trafficking of drugs (3.2 times the national rate), robbery of personal property (3.1 times the national rate) and theft from the person (2.9 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for arson (0.52 times), miscellaneous crimes against society (0.56 times) and stalking and harassment (0.60 times).

Districts in the Metropolitan Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 32 districts in the Metropolitan Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Brent district had the 15th highest 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.

5 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Brent district; the highest is Westminster (409.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Harrow district (81.4).

Of the 23 areas within Brent district, Kilburn had the highest crime rate (200.0 per 1,000) and Northwick Park the lowest (44.7), 4 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Brent district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Shopping Area” (2,216).

Of the 32,424 crimes in Brent district with a recorded outcome, 43% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.8% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 10,141 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Brent district has an estimated population of 352,976 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more households without a car (44%, against 23%), more private renting (36%, against 20%) and fewer retired residents (12%, against 22%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Brent district average decile 3.5 (1 = most deprived), more 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.