Crime in Sefton: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (10,211), anti-social behaviour (2,736) and public order (2,355) made up 63% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 159th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lower half.

Recorded crime in Sefton peaked in the year to August 2022 (30,236 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (24,124). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 12%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Sefton recorded notably more drugs (63% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (85% below) and vehicle crime (51% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 189 to 235.

What each category covers: crime categories.

21,620 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Sefton in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 75.5 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was down 1% on the year ending March 2025 (21,848), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Sefton had the 124th 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).

Offences recorded in Sefton, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 4,244 offences (20% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for possession of drugs (2.0 times the national rate) and public order offences (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.14 times), vehicle offences (0.46 times) and non-residential burglary (0.48 times).

The largest rises on the year were in theft from the person (+54%) and possession of weapons (+25%). The largest falls were in arson (−34%) and non-residential burglary (−28%). 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 Sefton 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. Sefton's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 2 of those 14 years and below it in 12. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the Merseyside Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 5 districts in the Merseyside Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Sefton 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.

3 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Sefton; the highest is Liverpool district (136.2 per 1,000) and the lowest West Lancashire (61.8).

Of the 31 areas within Sefton, Linacre had the highest crime rate (208.3 per 1,000) and Park the lowest (31.9), 7 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 15% of the crime recorded in Sefton over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (856).

Of the 21,657 crimes in Sefton with a recorded outcome, 27% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.4% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,736 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Sefton has an estimated population of 286,281 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (5.7%, against 7.9%), an older population (24%, against 19%) and more retired residents (27%, against 22%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Sefton average decile 5.1 (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.