Crime in Brentwood district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (1,937), shoplifting (737) and vehicle crime (647) made up 56% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 202nd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Brentwood district peaked in the year to August 2020 (7,955 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (5,678). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 11%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Brentwood district recorded notably more vehicle crime (64% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (79% below) and robbery (67% below). On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 505 to 625, while theft from the person fell from 47 to 28 and robbery fell from 45 to 36.

What each category covers: crime categories.

5,079 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Brentwood district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 64.0 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (5,068), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Brentwood district had the 96th 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).

Of the crimes recorded in the Essex Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.9% 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 Brentwood district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Brentwood district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 786 offences (15% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for vehicle offences (1.5 times the national rate) and trafficking of drugs (1.5 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.22 times), robbery of personal property (0.39 times) and other sexual offences (0.41 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (+72%) and possession of drugs (+39%). The largest falls were in non-residential burglary (−50%) and theft from the person (−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 Brentwood district 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. Brentwood district'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 Essex Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 14 districts in the Essex Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Brentwood district had the 7th 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.

7 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Brentwood district; the highest is Barking and Dagenham district (104.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Castle Point (62.3).

Of the 20 areas within Brentwood district, Brentwood North had the highest crime rate (130.3 per 1,000) and Doddinghurst the lowest (25.7), 5 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 25% of the crime recorded in Brentwood district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (298).

Of the 5,254 crimes in Brentwood district with a recorded outcome, 40% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 6.3% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 625 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Brentwood district has an estimated population of 79,326 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (14%, against 23%), fewer students (5.0%, against 7.9%) and less social housing (11%, against 17%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Brentwood district average decile 7.6 (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.