Crime in Rochford district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (2,083), anti-social behaviour (570) and criminal damage and arson (340) made up 65% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 285th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest tenth.

Recorded crime in Rochford district peaked in the year to August 2019 (5,857 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (4,299). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 11%, 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 robbery (77% below) and shoplifting (67% below) were well below it. On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 391 to 570 and drugs rose from 129 to 183, while possession of weapons fell from 59 to 39 and burglary fell from 170 to 139.

What each category covers: crime categories.

3,903 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Rochford district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 43.5 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 (4,026), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Rochford district had the 13th 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 Rochford district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Rochford district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 757 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 non-residential burglary (0.31 times), shoplifting (0.31 times) and other theft offences (0.42 times).

The largest rises on the year were in possession of drugs (+40%) and stalking and harassment (+16%). The largest falls were in vehicle offences (−24%) and other theft offences (−21%). 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 Rochford 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. Rochford 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, Rochford district had the 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.

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

Of the 20 areas within Rochford district, Wheatley had the highest crime rate (110.9 per 1,000) and Hockley and Ashingdon the lowest (22.7), 5 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 22% of the crime recorded in Rochford district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (239).

Of the 4,035 crimes in Rochford district with a recorded outcome, 30% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.7% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 570 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Rochford district has an estimated population of 89,815 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has less social housing (8.1%, against 17.1%), less private renting (11%, against 20%) and fewer households without a car (13%, against 23%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Rochford district average decile 7.7 (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.