Crime and Safety in Colchester
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Colchester is the most dangerous major town in Essex, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of Essex's 315 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Colchester in 2026 is 96 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Essex's overall crime rate, coming in 38% higher than the Essex rate of 69 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Colchester is the 28th most dangerous major town, and the 654th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Colchester was the worst major town in Essex for other crime, with 27 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.22 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Colchester residents, when it was Essex's most dangerous major town for theft from the person, recording 9 crimes at a rate of 0.07 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Colchester are violence and sexual offences, with 5,738 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 46. This is 4.1% higher than 2025's figure of 5,511 offences and a difference of 1.85 from 2025's crime rate of 44. Colchester's least common crime is theft from the person, with 86 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 2.3% from 2025's figure of 88 crimes.
Colchester 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Major Towns, Essex
55% higher, regional crime rate
East of England
33% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Colchester is 55% higher than the East of England and 33% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Colchester Crime Rate Over Time
| Colchester | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Colchester Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Colchester 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 Colchester Compares
You can compare Colchester'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 Colchester's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Colchester up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Colchester's 2,626 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 Colchester? 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
Colchester • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Colchester has a crime risk score of 626. This is based on analysis of 2,626 nearby areas within Colchester, 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 Colchester's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Colchester, crime risk scores are typically around 626, while in Essex they are average 496.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 668 (502 for Essex), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 707 (Essex 509).
Trends in Crime Risk
Colchester
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 0.07% in Colchester'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.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Colchester's crime risk score is down by 9%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Colchester's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 0.65%, 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
Colchester
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
Colchester • 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.
Vehicle Crime offences have a crime rate of 6.62 reports per 1,000 people in Colchester, which is 1.54 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 820 crime reports logged by Essex Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Essex Police recorded 5,738 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Colchester, resulting in a crime rate of 46 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.52.
The crime rate for Shoplifting is 1.30 times the national average at 9.29 reports per 1,000. This is from 1,152 crime reports reported to Essex Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Colchester
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.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.31 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 1.18 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 11% over this timeframe.
Shoplifting offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.27 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.02 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 25% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.38 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.98 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 41% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Colchester
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 1.00 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 1.33 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 25% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.14 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.00 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 14% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.35 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.81 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 25% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Colchester • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Colchester | Essex | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 1,197 | 9.65 | 0.68 | 15,826 | 7.63 | 0.54 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 190 | 1.55 | 2.12 | 1,211 | 0.59 | 0.81 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 389 | 3.13 | 1.00 | 5,328 | 2.58 | 0.82 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 869 | 7.00 | 1.11 | 12,427 | 5.98 | 0.95 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 423 | 3.42 | 1.11 | 6,807 | 3.27 | 1.06 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 243 | 1.96 | 1.06 | 3,330 | 1.61 | 0.87 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 760 | 6.14 | 1.08 | 10,377 | 4.98 | 0.88 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 129 | 1.04 | 1.22 | 1,752 | 0.84 | 0.99 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 908 | 7.33 | 1.26 | 10,675 | 5.12 | 0.88 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 146 | 1.19 | 1.01 | 1,433 | 0.69 | 0.58 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 1,152 | 9.29 | 1.30 | 13,424 | 6.46 | 0.91 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 86 | 0.69 | 0.45 | 997 | 0.49 | 0.32 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 820 | 6.62 | 1.54 | 10,314 | 4.97 | 1.16 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 5,738 | 46.28 | 1.52 | 65,641 | 31.56 | 1.04 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Colchester | Essex | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 11,853 | 95.64 | 1.33 | 143,716 | 69.14 | 0.96 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 10,717 | 86.62 | 1.17 | 139,780 | 67.68 | 0.91 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 11,244 | 91.55 | 1.21 | 150,055 | 73.45 | 0.97 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 13,142 | 108.24 | 1.37 | 162,636 | 80.64 | 1.02 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 13,647 | 113.14 | 1.47 | 166,739 | 83.60 | 1.09 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 11,475 | 94.37 | 1.38 | 150,121 | 75.78 | 1.11 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 13,064 | 107.32 | 1.45 | 162,259 | 82.34 | 1.11 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 13,165 | 108.14 | 1.42 | 161,365 | 82.25 | 1.08 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 11,255 | 92.67 | 1.30 | 137,578 | 70.55 | 0.99 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 9,117 | 75.52 | 1.18 | 122,860 | 63.43 | 0.99 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 2,726 | 22.60 | 1.19 | 37,128 | 19.19 | 1.01 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Colchester Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basildon | 12,950 | 98.18 | 2.7% more dangerous |
| Colchester | 11,853 | 95.64 | - |
| Harlow | 9,193 | 86.19 | 10% safer |
| Chelmsford | 7,630 | 85.76 | 10% safer |
| Grays | 3,909 | 82.46 | 14% safer |
Comparing Colchester to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 17% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 14% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 12% safer |
| Colchester | 95.64 | - |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 2.3% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 9% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 10% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 11% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 12% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 13% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 31% 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 Colchester's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Colchester 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporal Budd VC Gymnasium | - | - | 2 | - | 5 | 3 |
| Lexden Springs Local Nature Reserve | 1 | 1 | 5 | - | 7 | 3 |
| Monty's Park | 1 | - | 9 | 2 | 21 | 22 |
| Spring Lane Park | - | - | 3 | - | 8 | 3 |
| Lexden Allotments | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | 9 | 6 |
| Lexden King George Field | 7 | 1 | 9 | - | 19 | 10 |
| Westlands Country Park | 1 | - | 1 | - | 11 | 9 |
| Lexden Park | - | - | - | - | 3 | 5 |
| West End Sports Ground | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 6 |
| Shrub End Community and Sports Centre | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 23 | 48 |
| The Bunting Rooms | 4 | 6 | 2 | - | 26 | 18 |
| Drury Road Allotments | - | - | 1 | 1 | 3 | 40 |
| The Willows Allotment Gardens | - | - | 3 | - | 13 | 9 |
| Castle Park | 45 | 21 | 33 | 8 | 179 | 90 |
| New Fairfield Allotments | - | 1 | 2 | - | 10 | 6 |
| Grants Meadow Allotments | - | 2 | 2 | - | 8 | 4 |
| High Woods Country Park | 27 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 71 | 29 |
| St Bride's Close | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Colchester Academy Sports Centre | 4 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 64 | 24 |
| Leisure World | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 5 | 9 |
| Colchester Indoor Bowls Club | - | - | 2 | - | 6 | 32 |
Recent Crimes in Colchester
The 20 most recent crime reports in Colchester.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Hurnard Drive | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Nathan Court | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Nathan Court | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Glisson Square | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Grenfell Close | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Grenfell Close | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near New Town Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Grenfell Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Fairhead Road North | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hewes Close |
Methodology & Data Sources
Colchester 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 Colchester during August 2026 will typically become available in October 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.
Colchester Data Points
For Colchester, 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 E43000228.
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 Colchester's daytime - or "workday" - population of 104,105 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 Colchester