Crime in Chelmsford district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (6,475), anti-social behaviour (1,728) and shoplifting (1,690) made up 62% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 163rd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Chelmsford district peaked in the year to August 2019 (19,907 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (14,625). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 9%, 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 (64% below) and robbery (45% below) were well below it. On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 1,071 to 1,728 and robbery rose from 103 to 141, while theft from the person fell from 142 to 114 and other crime fell from 400 to 330.

What each category covers: crime categories.

13,293 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Chelmsford district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 70.4 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 4% on the year ending March 2025 (13,855), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Chelmsford district had the 123rd 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 Chelmsford district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Chelmsford district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 2,484 offences (19% 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 (0.36 times), robbery of business property (0.39 times) and robbery of personal property (0.49 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (+40%) and arson (+28%). The largest falls were in bicycle theft (−43%) and vehicle offences (−36%). 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 Chelmsford 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. Chelmsford 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, Chelmsford district had the 7th 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.

3 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Chelmsford district; the highest is Southend-on-Sea district (114.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Maldon district (51.1).

Of the 37 areas within Chelmsford district, Moulsham and Central had the highest crime rate (261.9 per 1,000) and South Woodham-Chetwood and Collingwood the lowest (27.1), 10 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 30% of the crime recorded in Chelmsford district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,043).

Of the 14,180 crimes in Chelmsford district with a recorded outcome, 33% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 8.1% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,728 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Chelmsford district has an estimated population of 188,803 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (15%, against 23%), fewer students (5.9%, against 7.9%) and less private renting (16%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Chelmsford district average decile 7.1 (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.