Crime in Dacorum: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,617), anti-social behaviour (3,277) and other theft (1,050) made up 65% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 158th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Dacorum peaked in the year to August 2018 (15,091 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2021 (12,333). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 9%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Dacorum recorded notably more anti-social behaviour (32% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (62% below) and bicycle theft (58% below). On the year before, drugs rose from 253 to 412 and possession of weapons rose from 78 to 117, while robbery fell from 177 to 110 and burglary fell from 665 to 433.

What each category covers: crime categories.

10,641 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Dacorum in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 65.9 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 (10,933), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Dacorum had the 101st 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 Hertfordshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.4% 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 Dacorum is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Dacorum, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was stalking and harassment, with 1,595 offences (15% 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 (0.33 times), robbery of personal property (0.42 times) and bicycle theft (0.46 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (from 44 to 138) and bicycle theft (+56%). The largest falls were in robbery of personal property (−41%) and vehicle offences (−27%). 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 Dacorum 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. Dacorum'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 Hertfordshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 10 districts in the Hertfordshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Dacorum 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 Dacorum; the highest is Watford (110.8 per 1,000) and the lowest Buckinghamshire (61.9).

Of the 36 areas within Dacorum, Hemel Hempstead Town had the highest crime rate (195.6 per 1,000) and Potten End the lowest (29.3), 7 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Dacorum over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (1,142).

Of the 10,491 crimes in Dacorum with a recorded outcome, 38% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.1% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 3,277 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Dacorum has an estimated population of 161,420 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (15%, against 23%), fewer students (5.5%, against 7.9%) and less private renting (14%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Dacorum average decile 6.8 (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.