Skip to content
Bexley Counts — Bexley, in numbers.Local help →

Bexley, in numbers

Crime and safety

Bexley council area. Every figure carries its own date.

What the recorded figures show, and what they cannot tell us.

Recorded crime and population

A larger population can mean more recorded offences even when the number of offences per resident falls. Read the total and the rate together.

Bexley · 2025/26 · Territorial police-recorded offences excluding fraud; British Transport Police excluded by CSP source. Source classifications retained.

Recorded offences

15,432

Offences per 1,000 residents

60.2

Population used for the rate

About 256,400

2024 mid-year population

The source rounds this population to the nearest 100. The rate shown is the official published rate.

Show the figures and workings

The rate is recorded offences divided by the population, multiplied by 1,000. Where the source rounds its population figure, we retain its published rate rather than recalculate it from that rounded figure. This counts offences, not the percentage of residents who were victims.

Checked counts and population-based rates
PeriodOffencesPopulation usedPer 1,000 residents
2025/2615,432About 256,400 (2024)60.2

These figures match the source area for this period. That does not establish a comparable history for today’s council boundaries.

Official source and method →
Can we test the population theory over 30 years?

Only where the offence definitions, recording practices and area boundaries are comparable. Changes in reporting, police recording and the types of crime matter too. We do not join incompatible series or invent missing years.

Only the latest independently checked observation is displayed. A comparable long-run crime-and-population trend has not been established.

  • 2002/03: Series starts after April 2002 recording-standard introduction; not comparable to pre-2002 records.
  • 2013/14: Offence grouping revision; source back-series retained. Recording practice changes also affect comparisons.
  • 2017/18: Burglary classification changed; broad total retained but detailed groups need review.
  • 2023/24: Burglary subcategories and recording-rule changes require interpretation review.

A comparable 30-year crime-and-population trend has not been established for this area.

For example, if offences rose by 10% while population rose by 20%, offences per resident would fall by about 8%. This is an illustration, not a finding about this area.

People commuting or visiting can also affect offences recorded in a place. The resident population is a useful common denominator, but does not count everyone present.

What could help? Follow the types and locations of repeated problems, check residents’ experiences, and assess the response. Area population totals do not identify who commits offences.

Local issues and proposed responses →

Police-recorded locations for Bexley council area. Locations are approximate; these are not all crimes or a measure of personal risk.

15,873 mapped crimes

September 2025 to August 2026. Compared with 16,076 in the previous 12 months. Anti-social behaviour is counted separately.

Mapped crime over time

September 2024 to August 2026

Bexley council area · mapped crimes

Reviewed figures: September 2024 to August 2026. This reviewed record covers fewer than 30 years, so the chart opens on all of it.

Shown on this chart: 1,307 mapped crimes in September 2024; 1,319 mapped crimes in August 2026. These are recorded counts; check the coverage notes before comparing periods.

The line joins consecutive published observations.

Monthly crime and anti-social behaviour
Recorded locations by month · Bexley
MonthMapped crimeAnti-social behaviour
September 20241,307255
October 20241,437336
November 20241,396287
December 20241,177243
January 20251,280205
February 20251,327201
March 20251,367324
April 20251,278345
May 20251,393341
June 20251,380341
July 20251,413380
August 20251,321372
September 20251,334309
October 20251,387343
November 20251,321297
December 20251,324272
January 20261,274244
February 20261,198280
March 20261,376333
April 20261,230398
May 20261,297440
June 20261,395455
July 20261,418486
August 20261,319391
Crime categories in the latest complete year
September 2025 to August 2026 · Bexley
CategoryMapped crimes
violent crime6,219
vehicle crime1,665
shoplifting1,648
public order1,287
other theft1,227
criminal damage arson1,032
drugs876
burglary802
robbery411
other crime280
theft from the person243
possession of weapons123
bicycle theft60
What these numbers include

Approximate published locations, not every crime or personal risk.

Anti-social behaviour is separate. Transport police and unusable locations excluded.

An empty ward count means no mapped rows in the complete required force files; it does not prove that no crime occurred.

These are retrieved mapped records, not a guarantee of complete crime reporting. Approximate locations and unmapped incidents limit comparisons.

Missing ward-months invalidate totals and changes. Busy centres attract visitors, so residential population is not a measure of the number of people exposed.

Police data and method →

What could improve local safety →