Crime in East Hertfordshire: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,766), anti-social behaviour (2,453) and shoplifting (744) made up 65% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 226th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in East Hertfordshire peaked in the year to August 2019 (11,442 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2021 (9,577). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 2%, 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 (74% below) and robbery (65% below) were well below it. On the year before, drugs rose from 249 to 397 and possession of weapons rose from 66 to 79, while bicycle theft fell from 85 to 61.

What each category covers: crime categories.

8,104 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in East Hertfordshire in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 51.7 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was up 2% on the year ending March 2025 (7,979), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, East Hertfordshire had the 38th 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 East Hertfordshire is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in East Hertfordshire, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,368 offences (17% 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 (0.23 times), robbery of personal property (0.24 times) and arson (0.40 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (from 26 to 123) and possession of drugs (+30%). The largest falls were in robbery of personal property (−29%) and vehicle offences (−23%). 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 East Hertfordshire 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. East Hertfordshire'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, East Hertfordshire had the 2nd 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.

6 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than East Hertfordshire; the highest is Stevenage district (118.8 per 1,000) and the lowest Uttlesford (61.8).

Of the 44 areas within East Hertfordshire, Hertford Castle had the highest crime rate (149.8 per 1,000) and Benington the lowest (31.1), 5 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 16% of the crime recorded in East Hertfordshire over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (428).

Of the 8,259 crimes in East Hertfordshire with a recorded outcome, 36% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,453 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

East Hertfordshire has an estimated population of 156,875 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (12%, against 23%), fewer students (5.5%, against 7.9%) and fewer residents with no qualifications (14%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up East Hertfordshire average decile 8.0 (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.