Crime and Safety in Hastings
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Hastings is the most dangerous major town in East Sussex, and is among the top 5 most dangerous overall out of East Sussex's 108 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Hastings in 2026 is 105 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to East Sussex's overall crime rate, coming in 43% higher than the East Sussex rate of 74 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Hastings is among the top 10 most dangerous major towns, and the 326th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In April 2026, Hastings had the worst crime rate in East Sussex for theft from the person, with 10 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.10 per 1,000 daytime population. April 2022 was also a bad month for Hastings residents, when it was East Sussex's most dangerous area for robbery, recording 8 crimes at a rate of 0.08 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Hastings are violence and sexual offences, with 3,996 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 41. This is 1.9% lower than 2025's figure of 4,073 offences and a difference of 0.82 from 2025's crime rate of 42. Hastings's least common crime is theft from the person, with 51 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 21% from 2025's figure of 42 crimes.
Hastings 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Major Towns, East Sussex
71% higher, regional crime rate
South East
46% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Hastings is 71% higher than the South East and 46% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Hastings Crime Rate Over Time
| Hastings | |
| South East | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Hastings Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Hastings represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
See How Hastings Compares
You can compare Hastings's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.
Introduction to Hastings's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Hastings up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Hastings's 2,021 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Hastings? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.
Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.
That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.
Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.
Crime Risk Scores
Hastings • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Hastings has a crime risk score of 638. This is based on analysis of 2,021 nearby areas within Hastings, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Hastings's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Hastings, crime risk scores are typically around 638, while in East Sussex they are average 474.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 719 (474 for East Sussex), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 773 (East Sussex 468).
Trends in Crime Risk
Hastings
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 15% in Hastings's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
The five-year trend may be static; no significant trend was identified in Hastings's crime risk scores during this timeframe.
Over the last year, Hastings's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 7%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Hastings
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Hastings • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Shoplifting offences have a crime rate of 18 reports per 1,000 people in Hastings, which is 2.54 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 1,762 crime reports logged by Sussex Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Sussex Police recorded 183 reports of Possession of Weapons in Hastings, resulting in a crime rate of 1.87 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.20.
The crime rate for Public Order is 1.66 times the national average at 9.65 reports per 1,000. This is from 941 crime reports reported to Sussex Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Hastings
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.92 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.58 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 22% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.35 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.78 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 201% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 3.29 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 110% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Hastings
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.11 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 1.62 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 30% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.52 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.43 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 6% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.83 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 0.38 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 118% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Hastings • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Hastings | East Sussex | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 2,144 | 22.03 | 1.56 | 16,018 | 17.42 | 1.23 | 115,500 | 10.87 | 0.77 |
| Bicycle Theft | 73 | 0.73 | 1.06 | 670 | 0.74 | 1.01 | 7,315 | 0.68 | 0.93 |
| Burglary | 331 | 3.42 | 1.09 | 2,223 | 2.42 | 0.77 | 23,535 | 2.23 | 0.71 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 940 | 9.65 | 1.54 | 5,927 | 6.45 | 1.03 | 58,501 | 5.50 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 373 | 3.85 | 1.25 | 2,829 | 3.07 | 0.99 | 25,203 | 2.37 | 0.77 |
| Other Crime | 228 | 2.32 | 1.25 | 1,777 | 1.93 | 1.04 | 17,151 | 1.61 | 0.87 |
| Other Theft | 650 | 6.68 | 1.17 | 5,101 | 5.53 | 0.97 | 51,336 | 4.84 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 183 | 1.87 | 2.20 | 1,053 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 8,736 | 0.81 | 0.95 |
| Public Order | 941 | 9.65 | 1.66 | 6,717 | 7.31 | 1.26 | 54,745 | 5.15 | 0.89 |
| Robbery | 165 | 1.66 | 1.41 | 965 | 1.06 | 0.90 | 7,588 | 0.72 | 0.61 |
| Shoplifting | 1,762 | 18.10 | 2.54 | 10,717 | 11.65 | 1.63 | 72,983 | 6.88 | 0.96 |
| Theft From the Person | 51 | 0.51 | 0.33 | 654 | 0.71 | 0.46 | 4,668 | 0.45 | 0.29 |
| Vehicle Crime | 524 | 5.37 | 1.25 | 2,380 | 2.58 | 0.60 | 34,099 | 3.22 | 0.75 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 3,996 | 41.04 | 1.35 | 26,607 | 28.96 | 0.95 | 286,815 | 26.98 | 0.89 |
Download | |||||||||
Total Crime by Year
Hastings | East Sussex | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 10,217 | 104.85 | 1.46 | 67,620 | 73.56 | 1.02 | 652,675 | 61.44 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 9,156 | 94.45 | 1.28 | 68,053 | 74.58 | 1.01 | 670,274 | 63.35 | 0.86 |
| 2024 | 9,567 | 98.43 | 1.31 | 68,083 | 75.18 | 1.00 | 690,903 | 65.86 | 0.87 |
| 2023 | 9,879 | 102.12 | 1.29 | 65,164 | 72.58 | 0.92 | 713,547 | 68.83 | 0.87 |
| 2022 | 9,429 | 97.74 | 1.27 | 62,324 | 70.05 | 0.91 | 704,444 | 68.58 | 0.89 |
| 2021 | 8,812 | 91.27 | 1.33 | 57,091 | 64.36 | 0.94 | 625,484 | 61.36 | 0.89 |
| 2020 | 9,707 | 99.15 | 1.34 | 65,780 | 74.02 | 1.00 | 669,219 | 65.97 | 0.89 |
| 2019 | 9,246 | 93.82 | 1.23 | 60,704 | 68.18 | 0.89 | 666,505 | 65.82 | 0.86 |
| 2018 | 8,983 | 90.95 | 1.28 | 58,790 | 66.08 | 0.93 | 644,142 | 63.85 | 0.90 |
| 2017 | 8,947 | 90.36 | 1.41 | 56,884 | 63.98 | 1.00 | 552,696 | 55.04 | 0.86 |
| 2016 | 2,508 | 25.28 | 1.33 | 16,489 | 18.56 | 0.97 | 160,273 | 15.99 | 0.84 |
Download | |||||||||
Hastings Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | 10,217 | 104.85 | - |
| Eastbourne | 11,329 | 102.99 | 1.8% safer |
Comparing Hastings to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 24% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 21% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 20% safer |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 7% safer |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 0.20% safer |
| Hastings | 104.85 | - |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 0.19% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 1.6% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 2.1% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 2.8% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 19% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
To download charts and tables, you must subscribed to CrimeRate Pro
You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Hastings's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Hastings that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bembrook Allotments | 5 | - | - | - | 1 | 11 |
| Warrior Square Playstop | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 14 |
| St Leonards Bowls Club | 5 | 2 | 1 | - | 5 | 7 |
| Old Town Maritime Garden | 10 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 20 |
| Pelham Beach Childrens Playground | 4 | - | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Swan Inn Memorial Gardens | 32 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 47 | 36 |
| Hastings Bowls Club | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Hastings Adventure Playground | 2 | 1 | - | - | 7 | 5 |
| Celandine Drive Playground | 1 | - | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| St Helen's Wood | 6 | - | - | - | 17 | 5 |
| The Choice Allotments | - | - | - | - | 3 | 11 |
| Tivoli Allotments | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| Harley Shute Allotments | 6 | - | 5 | 1 | 29 | 5 |
| Vale Road Shornden Allotments | 1 | - | 1 | - | 6 | 7 |
| Gensing Gardens | 7 | 1 | 2 | - | 22 | 17 |
| Horntye Park Sports Complex | 28 | 28 | 43 | 5 | 80 | 81 |
| Marina Allotments | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 2 |
| West Marina Gardens | 12 | 5 | 5 | - | 12 | 17 |
| St Leonard's Gardens | 12 | - | 4 | 1 | 14 | 14 |
| Falaise Hall | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Downs Road Allotments | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Bos Field Allotments | 5 | - | 1 | - | 11 | 8 |
| Ore Cemetery | 7 | - | 5 | - | 23 | 14 |
| Alexandra and Clive Vale Bowls Clubs | 2 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 5 |
| Lower Cornwallis Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | 4 | 2 |
| Collier Road Allotments | 10 | - | - | - | 2 | 24 |
| Pauls Field Allotments | 12 | - | 5 | - | 22 | 20 |
| Sandhurst Playing Field | 1 | - | 1 | - | 3 | 2 |
| William Parker Community Athletics Arena | - | - | - | - | 12 | 4 |
| Alexandra Park | 30 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 33 |
| Markwick Gardens | 4 | 1 | - | - | 11 | 6 |
| Amherst Gardens | 10 | - | - | - | 4 | 6 |
| Linton Gardens | 7 | 1 | 5 | - | 14 | 9 |
| The Oval | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Warrior Square Gardens | 63 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 66 | 70 |
| Hastings Cemetery and Crematorium | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 6 |
| Cornwallis Gardens | 26 | 10 | 13 | - | 58 | 59 |
| Wellington Square | 10 | - | 2 | - | 12 | 10 |
| West Hill | 80 | 5 | 28 | 4 | 84 | 91 |
| Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve | 34 | 1 | 13 | - | 36 | 29 |
| Falaise Indoor Bowls Club | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Bexhill Leisure Pool | 4 | - | 10 | 2 | 4 | 59 |
| White Rock Bowls Club and Rosemount Bowls Club | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Bannatyne's Health Club | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | 5 |
| Dukes Green | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | 17 | 18 |
| Pelham Playa | 4 | - | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Sophie's Play Space | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| White Rock Gardens | 46 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 48 | 66 |
| Sea Road Playstop | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | 4 | 5 |
| Butlers Gap | 20 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 26 | 16 |
| Farley Bank Play Area | 9 | 7 | 3 | - | 32 | 16 |
| The Pocket Park | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | 9 | 11 |
Recent Crimes in Hastings
The 20 most recent crime reports in Hastings.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Radnor Mews | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Wentworth Way | |
| April 2026 | Bicycle theft | On or near Maze Hill Terrace | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Duke Road | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Duke Road | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Nook Close | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Tower Road | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Devonshire Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Eldridge Way | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near St Paul'S Road | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Mare Bay Close | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Verdant Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Pierwarden Mews | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Fairlight Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ore Place |
Methodology & Data Sources
Hastings Crime Report
Data Sources & Processing
Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.
Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Hastings during July 2026 will typically become available in September 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.
Hastings Data Points
For Hastings, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2023 release of their Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas dataset, using the PARNCP23CD column value E43000056.
Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Hastings's daytime - or "workday" - population of 86,322 from the ONS 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.
All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.
Calculating Crime Rates
CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.
Crime Risk Score Calculations
CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.
Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.
Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.
The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Hastings