Peterlee Crime and Safety Statistics

Peterlee Crime Overview

Peterlee is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in Durham, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of Durham's 185 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Peterlee in 2020 was 137 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Durham's overall crime rate, coming in 35% higher than the Durham rate of 89 per 1,000 residents. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Peterlee is among the top 20 most dangerous small towns, and the 182nd most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.

In November 2020, Peterlee had the worst crime rate in Durham for theft from the person, with 4 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.20 per 1,000 inhabitants.

The most common crimes in Peterlee are violence and sexual offences, with 1,112 offences during 2020, giving a crime rate of 57. This is 11% higher than 2019's figure of 986 offences and a difference of 6.41 from 2019's crime rate of 50. Peterlee's least common crime is robbery, with 5 offences recorded in 2020, a decrease of 60% from 2019's figure of 8 crimes.

Compare Peterlee to other towns and cities

See how Peterlee shapes up compared to other locations around the country, including side-by-side comparisons of specific crime types, and separate charting of how Peterlee and your comparison town's crime rates stack up against one another.

Crime in Peterlee Compared To Durham

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Summary of Crimes in Peterlee This Year

	Peterlee		Durham
Crime	Count	Rate	Count	Rate	Rate Difference
Anti-Social Behaviour	897	45.60	31,724	36.54	20% more dangerous
Bicycle Theft	13	0.66	471	0.54	18% more dangerous
Burglary	126	6.41	4,493	5.18	19% more dangerous
Criminal Damage and Arson	472	23.99	11,041	12.72	47% more dangerous
Drugs	63	3.20	2,278	2.62	18% more dangerous
Other Crime	88	4.47	2,349	2.71	39% more dangerous
Other Theft	166	8.44	5,298	6.10	28% more dangerous
Possession of Weapons	11	0.56	551	0.63	12% safer
Public Order	185	9.40	7,237	8.34	11% more dangerous
Robbery	5	0.25	369	0.43	72% safer
Shoplifting	320	16.27	4,917	5.66	65% more dangerous
Theft From the Person	13	0.66	418	0.48	27% more dangerous
Vehicle Crime	128	6.51	3,288	3.79	42% more dangerous
Violence and Sexual Offences	1,112	56.53	34,322	39.54	30% more dangerous

Peterlee Compared to Nearby Small Towns

Small Town	Total Crimes	Crime Rate	Rate Difference
Seaham	1,651	80.43	71% safer
Brandon and Byshottles	1,635	82.97	66% safer
Spennymoor	1,932	88.75	55% safer
Crook	895	92.97	48% safer
Murton	946	121.03	13% safer
Peterlee	2,702	137.35	-
Shildon	1,411	141.98	3.3% more dangerous
Ferryhill	1,357	144.19	4.7% more dangerous
Bishop Auckland	2,596	157.96	13% more dangerous

Crime Over Time in Peterlee

View crime percentage over time for

Peterlee Crime Trends

	Crime Rate Per 1,000 Residents
Crime	2017	2018	2019	2020	Trend
Anti-Social Behaviour	46	44	50	46	Safer
Bicycle Theft	1.1	0.81	1.5	0.66	Safer
Burglary	12	8	10	6	Safer
Criminal Damage and Arson	23	29	26	24	Safer
Drugs	3.1	2.1	2.5	3.2	Getting worse
Other Crime	4.3	5	4.3	4.5	Safer
Other Theft	12	11	11	8	Safer
Possession of Weapons	0.76	0.51	0.71	0.56	Safer
Public Order	11	13	11	9	Safer
Robbery (inc. mugging)	0.76	0.61	0.41	0.25	Safer
Shoplifting	15	15	14	16	Getting worse
Theft From the Person (inc. pickpocketing)	0.97	0.81	0.51	0.66	Safer
Vehicle Crime	7	7	7	7	Safer
Violence and Sexual Offences	54	54	50	57	Getting worse

Changes In Peterlee's Crime Rates Over Time

Comparing Peterlee to the UK's Major Cities

Small Town	Crime Rate	Rate Difference
Barnet	67.71	103% safer
Coventry	77.41	77% safer
Croydon	83.22	65% safer
Sheffield	85.81	60% safer
Bristol	86.21	59% safer
Leicester	97.44	41% safer
Birmingham	102.87	34% safer
Liverpool	107.28	28% safer
Bradford	133.02	3.3% safer
Leeds	137.10	0.18% safer
Peterlee	137.35	-

Crime in Peterlee's Neighbourhoods

Neighbourhood	Crime Count	Crime Rate	Danger Rank
Peterlee East	1,323	155	First
Peterlee South	877	137	Second
Peterlee West	800	110	Third

Crime in Peterlee During Coronavirus Lockdowns

Looking at the months the UK was in lockdown in 2020 due to Covid-19, how did crime rates in Peterlee change compared to the same month in 2019? The biggest increase in lockdown crime came in September, when Peterlee saw a 293% increase in shoplifting. Peterlee saw a large fall in shoplifting during May, when it fell by 92% compared to May in 2019.

Crime	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Anti-Social Behaviour	+3%	-19%	+17%	-13%	-17%	-35%	+12%	+19%	-33%	-24%
Bicycle Theft	-33%	-	+100%	-	-	-	-80%	-67%	-	-50%
Burglary	-28%	-68%	-	-69%	-50%	-57%	-21%	-50%	-	-29%
Criminal Damage and Arson	-12%	-35%	-42%	-44%	+42%	-5%	+5%	+5%	-29%	+22%
Drugs	-13%	+40%	-	+33%	+67%	-67%	-80%	+233%	+67%	+150%
Other Crime	+200%	-50%	+100%	+75%	+40%	-38%	+150%	-67%	-25%	-
Other Theft	-44%	-25%	-21%	+15%	+31%	-50%	-35%	-35%	-37%	-19%
Possession of Weapons	-	+100%	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Public Order	-25%	-36%	-20%	-42%	+7%	-42%	-14%	-	-	-
Robbery	-50%	-	-	-50%	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shoplifting	-45%	-79%	-92%	-13%	+283%	+153%	+293%	+86%	+14%	-
Theft From the Person	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+100%	-
Vehicle Crime	-	-56%	-63%	-70%	-20%	-77%	+138%	-37%	+22%	+17%
Violence and Sexual Offences	+24%	-15%	+41%	-20%	+85%	-16%	+1%	-	+46%	+20%

Frequently Asked Questions About Crime in Peterlee

What police force serves Peterlee?

Peterlee's local territorial police force is the Durham Constabulary.

How dangerous is Peterlee?

Peterlee is among the top 5 most dangerous small towns in Durham.

What is Peterlee's most common crime?

The most common crimes in Peterlee are violence and sexual offences.

What is the least common crime in Peterlee?

Peterlee's least common crime is robbery (inc. mugging).

Last updated: 07 May 2021

Crime and Safety in Peterlee