Crime in Castle Point: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (2,404), anti-social behaviour (866) and criminal damage and arson (526) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 246th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest quarter.

Recorded crime in Castle Point peaked in the year to August 2019 (8,199 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (5,465). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 24%, 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 (87% below) and robbery (70% below) were well below it. On the year before, bicycle theft rose from 23 to 32 and anti-social behaviour rose from 647 to 866, while shoplifting fell from 461 to 305 and vehicle crime fell from 312 to 237.

What each category covers: crime categories.

4,718 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Castle Point in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 52.1 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 3% on the year ending March 2025 (4,841), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Castle Point had the 41st 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 Castle Point is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Castle Point, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 883 offences (19% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (2.1 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.14 times), robbery of personal property (0.28 times) and non-residential burglary (0.32 times).

The largest rises on the year were in arson (+43%) and possession of drugs (+38%). The largest falls were in vehicle offences (−41%) and robbery of personal property (−34%). 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 Castle Point 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. Castle Point'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, Castle Point had the 4th 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 Castle Point; the highest is Southend-on-Sea district (114.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Rochford district (51.3).

Of the 15 areas within Castle Point, Canvey Island South had the highest crime rate (104.0 per 1,000) and St George's the lowest (33.9), 3 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Castle Point over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (334).

Of the 4,778 crimes in Castle Point with a recorded outcome, 34% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.4% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 866 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Castle Point has an estimated population of 90,581 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has less social housing (5.5%, against 17.1%), fewer residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (18%, against 34%) and fewer students (4.4%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Castle Point average decile 5.9 (1 = most deprived), close to the middle.

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