Crime in Hertsmere: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (3,238), anti-social behaviour (1,966) and other theft (1,048) made up 64% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 133rd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

Recorded crime in Hertsmere peaked in the year to August 2025 (10,701 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2022 (9,802). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 6%, in line with England and Wales.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Hertsmere recorded notably more other theft (47% above the national rate) and drugs (26% above the national rate), and notably less bicycle theft (74% below) and theft from the person (59% below). On the year before, drugs rose from 380 to 453, while bicycle theft fell from 48 to 24 and shoplifting fell from 1,014 to 543.

What each category covers: crime categories.

7,919 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Hertsmere in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 71.9 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 5% on the year ending March 2025 (8,338), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Hertsmere had the 132nd 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 Hertsmere is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Hertsmere, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,163 offences (15% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for other theft offences (1.4 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for bicycle theft (0.33 times), theft from the person (0.39 times) and rape (0.59 times).

The largest rises on the year were in trafficking of drugs (from 35 to 152) and robbery of personal property (+34%). The largest falls were in bicycle theft (−34%) and vehicle offences (−25%). 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 Hertsmere 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. Hertsmere'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, Hertsmere had the 5th 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.

5 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Hertsmere; the highest is Brent district (120.6 per 1,000) and the lowest Three Rivers (67.7).

Of the 23 areas within Hertsmere, South Mimms had the highest crime rate (412.3 per 1,000) and Bushey Heath the lowest (42.9), 10 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Hertsmere over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Petrol Station” (533).

Of the 7,853 crimes in Hertsmere with a recorded outcome, 40% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 3.5% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,966 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Hertsmere has an estimated population of 110,212 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (16%, against 23%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Hertsmere 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.