Crime and Safety in Hemel Hempstead
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Hemel Hempstead is the second safest major town in Hertfordshire, and is the 21st most dangerous overall out of Hertfordshire's 140 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Hemel Hempstead in 2026 is 70 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Hertfordshire's overall crime rate, coming in 17% higher than the Hertfordshire rate of 60 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Hemel Hempstead is the 51st safest major town, and the 1,152nd most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Hemel Hempstead was the worst major town in Hertfordshire for anti-social behaviour, with 145 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.3 per 1,000 daytime population. February 2026 was also a bad month for Hemel Hempstead residents, when it was again Hertfordshire's most dangerous major town for anti-social behaviour, recording 171 crimes at a rate of 1.6 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Hemel Hempstead are violence and sexual offences, with 3,430 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 31. This is 3.6% lower than 2025's figure of 3,559 offences and a difference of 1.03 from 2025's crime rate of 32. Hemel Hempstead's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 49 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 3.9% from 2025's figure of 51 crimes.
Hemel Hempstead 2026 Crime Scorecard
Second Safest
Major Towns, Hertfordshire
15% higher, regional crime rate
East of England
2.1% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Hemel Hempstead is 15% higher than the East of England and 2.1% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Hemel Hempstead Crime Rate Over Time
| Hemel Hempstead | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Hemel Hempstead Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Hemel Hempstead 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 Hemel Hempstead Compares
You can compare Hemel Hempstead'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 Hemel Hempstead's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Hemel Hempstead up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Hemel Hempstead's 2,100 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 Hemel Hempstead? 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
Hemel Hempstead • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Hemel Hempstead has a crime risk score of 552. This is based on analysis of 2,100 nearby areas within Hemel Hempstead, 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 Hemel Hempstead's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Hemel Hempstead, crime risk scores are typically around 552, while in Hertfordshire they are average 456.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 611 (472 for Hertfordshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 638 (Hertfordshire 489).
Trends in Crime Risk
Hemel Hempstead
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.
No trend could be found in Hemel Hempstead's crime risk scores over the last 10 years, and the trend may well be static.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Hemel Hempstead's crime risk score is up by 24%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Over the last year, Hemel Hempstead's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 4.8%, 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
Hemel Hempstead
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
Hemel Hempstead • 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 7.93 reports per 1,000 people in Hemel Hempstead, which is 1.11 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 883 crime reports logged by Hertfordshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Hertfordshire Police recorded 533 reports of Vehicle Crime in Hemel Hempstead, resulting in a crime rate of 4.78 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.11.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 1.01 times the national average at 31 reports per 1,000. This is from 3,430 crime reports reported to Hertfordshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Hemel Hempstead
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.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.98 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.71 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 38% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.43 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.14 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 62% over this timeframe.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.09 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 1.39 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 22% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Hemel Hempstead
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.89 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.64 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 46% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Hemel Hempstead • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Hemel Hempstead | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 2,391 | 21.41 | 1.52 | 21,601 | 15.50 | 1.10 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 49 | 0.44 | 0.66 | 917 | 0.66 | 0.90 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 327 | 2.94 | 0.94 | 3,683 | 2.65 | 0.85 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 646 | 5.79 | 0.92 | 6,931 | 4.97 | 0.79 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 296 | 2.66 | 0.86 | 3,411 | 2.45 | 0.79 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 178 | 1.60 | 0.86 | 1,983 | 1.41 | 0.76 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 813 | 7.29 | 1.28 | 8,371 | 6.01 | 1.06 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 79 | 0.69 | 0.81 | 861 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 457 | 4.09 | 0.71 | 5,446 | 3.91 | 0.67 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 96 | 0.85 | 0.78 | 991 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 883 | 7.93 | 1.11 | 8,328 | 5.99 | 0.84 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 77 | 0.69 | 0.45 | 954 | 0.68 | 0.44 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 533 | 4.78 | 1.11 | 6,049 | 4.35 | 1.01 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 3,430 | 30.74 | 1.01 | 36,109 | 25.93 | 0.85 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Hemel Hempstead | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 7,864 | 70.49 | 0.98 | 84,034 | 60.33 | 0.84 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 8,236 | 73.43 | 0.99 | 82,503 | 59.54 | 0.80 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 7,177 | 64.08 | 0.85 | 73,907 | 53.85 | 0.71 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 7,021 | 63.58 | 0.80 | 76,470 | 56.33 | 0.71 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 6,711 | 61.37 | 0.80 | 74,426 | 55.22 | 0.72 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 6,595 | 60.37 | 0.88 | 72,746 | 54.15 | 0.79 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 7,581 | 69.29 | 0.93 | 82,388 | 61.55 | 0.83 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 8,071 | 73.90 | 0.97 | 86,563 | 64.71 | 0.85 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 7,491 | 68.92 | 0.97 | 84,008 | 63.06 | 0.89 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 6,960 | 64.58 | 1.01 | 77,119 | 58.04 | 0.91 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 2,152 | 20.02 | 1.05 | 21,894 | 16.50 | 0.87 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Hemel Hempstead Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
Comparing Hemel Hempstead to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Hemel Hempstead | 70.49 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 13% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 17% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 19% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 39% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 48% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 49% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 51% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 52% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 53% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 77% more dangerous |
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Offences In and Around Hemel Hempstead's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Hemel Hempstead 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Street Green Play Area | 3 | - | - | - | 4 | 1 |
| Reith Fields Play Area | - | - | 1 | - | 5 | 5 |
| Jocketts Play Area | 3 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 3 |
| The Reith Fields | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 65 |
| Northend Community Orchard | 10 | - | - | - | 14 | 5 |
| Candlefield Road Allotments | 6 | - | - | - | 11 | 0 |
| Washington Avenue Play Area | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Shrub Hill Common | 8 | 1 | 2 | - | 16 | 16 |
| Herdsman's Moor | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Harding's Moor | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 0 |
| Fishery Moor | - | 1 | 2 | - | 9 | 8 |
| Station Moor | 22 | 4 | 9 | - | 15 | 28 |
| Blackbirds Moor | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| Two Waters Moor | 6 | - | - | 1 | 1 | 27 |
| Spencers Park Play Area | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| Sportspace Longdean | 10 | 2 | 3 | - | 31 | 16 |
| Grovehill Playing Fields | 7 | 1 | 1 | - | 11 | 6 |
| Durrants Hill Park | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | 7 | 10 |
| Margaret Lloyd Park Play Area | 19 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 30 |
| Margaret Lloyd Park | 27 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 22 | 42 |
| Adeyfield | 13 | - | - | - | 3 | 7 |
| Gadebridge Splash Park | 7 | 2 | - | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Planets Park | 2 | - | - | - | 11 | 3 |
| Gadebridge Park Play Area | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
| Gadebridge Park | 138 | 19 | 22 | 5 | 101 | 69 |
| Randall Park | 31 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 19 |
| Northridge Park | 7 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 50 |
| Cupid Green Playing Fields | 5 | 4 | 2 | - | 15 | 16 |
| Plough Gardens | 7 | - | - | - | 4 | 11 |
| Bunkers Park | 5 | - | 1 | - | 12 | 5 |
| Chaulden Adventure Playground | 2 | - | 1 | - | 3 | 0 |
| Chaulden Lane Playing Field | 11 | - | - | 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Chaulden Allotment Gardens | 1 | - | 2 | - | 10 | 9 |
| Adeyfield Road Allotments | 10 | - | - | - | 8 | 9 |
| Hemel Hempstead Sports Centre | 21 | 4 | 2 | - | 18 | 26 |
| Hemel Hempstead Amateur Rugby League Football Club | 6 | - | - | - | 6 | 4 |
| Widmore Drive Allotments North | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 6 |
| Hobletts Road Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | 21 | 11 |
| High Street Green Allotments | 9 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 5 |
| Widmore Drive Allotments South | 3 | - | 2 | - | 1 | 6 |
| Malmes Croft Play Area | 5 | - | - | - | 20 | 8 |
| Wharf Road Play Area | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Coronation Fields Play Area | 9 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Coronation Fields | 30 | 3 | 2 | - | 21 | 7 |
| Barnacres Play Area | 6 | 1 | 2 | - | - | 6 |
| War Memorial Gardens | 6 | 4 | - | - | 4 | 6 |
| The Walled Garden | 45 | 6 | 11 | - | 41 | 27 |
| Water Gardens | 123 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 86 | 154 |
| Water Gardens Play Area | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | 3 | 9 |
| Keens Field | 34 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 26 |
| Friends' Garden | 51 | 9 | 5 | - | 29 | 20 |
| Long Deans | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Hemel Hempstead
The 20 most recent crime reports in Hemel Hempstead.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Tamar Green | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Dacorum Way | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Figtree Hill | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Bencroft Road | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Acre Wood | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Grover Close | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Acre Wood | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Grover Close | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Quantocks | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Acre Wood | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Figtree Hill | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Datchworth Turn | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Wharfedale | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Datchworth Turn | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Manan Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Imperial Way | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Figtree Hill |
Methodology & Data Sources
Hemel Hempstead 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 Hemel Hempstead 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.
Hemel Hempstead Data Points
For Hemel Hempstead, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2022 release of their Built Up Areas dataset, using the BUA22CD column value E63004449.
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 Hemel Hempstead's daytime - or "workday" - population of 78,428 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 Hemel Hempstead