Crime in Harlow district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,352), anti-social behaviour (1,184) and criminal damage and arson (845) made up 58% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 67th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

Recorded crime in Harlow district peaked in the year to August 2020 (13,637 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (10,162). 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, Harlow district recorded notably more bicycle theft (89% above the national rate), drugs (77% above the national rate) and possession of weapons (63% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (52% below) and anti-social behaviour (22% below). On the year before, bicycle theft rose from 91 to 153 and burglary rose from 242 to 350, while other crime fell from 262 to 203 and theft from the person fell from 99 to 80.

What each category covers: crime categories.

9,072 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Harlow district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 92.3 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 2% on the year ending March 2025 (9,272), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Harlow district had the 73rd highest 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 Harlow district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Harlow district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,661 offences (18% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for trafficking of drugs (2.0 times the national rate), possession of weapons (1.6 times the national rate) and arson (1.6 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.39 times), robbery of business property (0.69 times) and non-residential burglary (0.70 times).

The largest rises on the year were in possession of weapons (+60%) and bicycle theft (+35%). The largest falls were in vehicle offences (−30%) and robbery of personal property (−29%). 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 Harlow 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. Harlow district's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 13 of those 14 years and below it in 1. 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, Harlow district had the 2nd 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.

1 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Harlow district; the highest is Enfield district (112.6 per 1,000) and the lowest Uttlesford (61.8).

Of the 12 areas within Harlow district, Little Parndon & Town Centre had the highest crime rate (258.7 per 1,000) and Church Langley North & Newhall the lowest (48.0), 5 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 24% of the crime recorded in Harlow district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (679).

Of the 9,741 crimes in Harlow district with a recorded outcome, 33% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.0% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,184 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Harlow district has an estimated population of 98,235 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more social housing (29%, against 17%), fewer residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (24%, against 34%) and fewer students (5.8%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Harlow district average decile 4.9 (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.