Crime and Safety in Watford, Hertfordshire
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Watford is the second most dangerous major town in Hertfordshire, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of Hertfordshire's 140 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Watford in 2026 is 72 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Hertfordshire's overall crime rate, coming in 19% higher than the Hertfordshire rate of 60 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Watford is the 53rd safest major town, and the 1,140th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In June 2024, Watford had the worst crime rate in Hertfordshire for robbery, with 32 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.26 per 1,000 daytime population. June 2021 was also a bad month for Watford residents, when it was Hertfordshire's most dangerous area for theft from the person, recording 20 crimes at a rate of 0.17 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Watford are violence and sexual offences, with 3,900 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 31. This is 1.7% higher than 2025's figure of 3,835 offences and a difference of 0.53 from 2025's crime rate of 30. Watford's least common crimes are possession of weapons, with 100 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 12% from 2025's figure of 113 crimes.
Watford 2026 Crime Scorecard
Second Most Dangerous
Major Towns, Hertfordshire
17% higher, regional crime rate
East of England
0.10% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Watford is 17% higher than the East of England and 0.10% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Watford Crime Rate Over Time
| Watford | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Watford Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Watford 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 Watford Compares
You can compare Watford'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 Watford's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Watford up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Watford's 2,459 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 Watford? 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
Watford • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Watford has a crime risk score of 505. This is based on analysis of 2,459 nearby areas within Watford, 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 Watford's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Watford, crime risk scores are typically around 505, while in Hertfordshire they are average 456.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 581 (472 for Hertfordshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 617 (Hertfordshire 489).
Trends in Crime Risk
Watford
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 0.08% in Watford'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 Watford's crime risk score is up by 11%. 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, Watford's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 1.2%, 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
Watford
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
Watford • 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 4.78 reports per 1,000 people in Watford, which is 1.11 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 608 crime reports logged by Hertfordshire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Hertfordshire Police recorded 419 reports of Drugs in Watford, resulting in a crime rate of 3.31 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.07.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 1.01 times the national average at 31 reports per 1,000. This is from 3,900 crime reports reported to Hertfordshire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Watford
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 0.93 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.74 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 26% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.88 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.34 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 159% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.93 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.89 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 4.5% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Watford
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.68 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.94 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 28% 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 0.85 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 2.4% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.58 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 1.00 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 42% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Watford • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Watford | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 2,303 | 18.11 | 1.28 | 21,601 | 15.50 | 1.10 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 176 | 1.38 | 1.89 | 917 | 0.66 | 0.90 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 284 | 2.24 | 0.72 | 3,683 | 2.65 | 0.85 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 735 | 5.80 | 0.92 | 6,931 | 4.97 | 0.79 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 419 | 3.31 | 1.07 | 3,411 | 2.45 | 0.79 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 167 | 1.32 | 0.71 | 1,983 | 1.41 | 0.76 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 957 | 7.53 | 1.32 | 8,371 | 6.01 | 1.06 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 100 | 0.78 | 0.92 | 861 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 683 | 5.38 | 0.93 | 5,446 | 3.91 | 0.67 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 129 | 1.01 | 0.86 | 991 | 0.70 | 0.59 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 816 | 6.43 | 0.90 | 8,328 | 5.99 | 0.84 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 181 | 1.42 | 0.92 | 954 | 0.68 | 0.44 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 608 | 4.78 | 1.11 | 6,049 | 4.35 | 1.01 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 3,900 | 30.67 | 1.01 | 36,109 | 25.93 | 0.85 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Watford | Hertfordshire | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 9,155 | 72.05 | 1.00 | 84,034 | 60.33 | 0.84 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 8,702 | 69.41 | 0.94 | 82,503 | 59.54 | 0.80 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 8,151 | 66.25 | 0.88 | 73,907 | 53.85 | 0.71 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 8,639 | 71.35 | 0.90 | 76,470 | 56.33 | 0.71 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 8,454 | 70.72 | 0.92 | 74,426 | 55.22 | 0.72 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 7,520 | 63.29 | 0.92 | 72,746 | 54.15 | 0.79 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 9,105 | 76.56 | 1.03 | 82,388 | 61.55 | 0.83 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 9,565 | 80.42 | 1.05 | 86,563 | 64.71 | 0.85 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 9,794 | 83.47 | 1.17 | 84,008 | 63.06 | 0.89 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 8,560 | 73.58 | 1.15 | 77,119 | 58.04 | 0.91 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 2,447 | 21.07 | 1.10 | 21,894 | 16.50 | 0.87 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Watford Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stevenage | 8,698 | 84.16 | 17% more dangerous |
| Watford | 9,155 | 72.05 | - |
| Hemel Hempstead | 7,864 | 70.49 | 2.2% safer |
| St Albans | 5,131 | 67.76 | 6% safer |
Comparing Watford to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Watford | 72.05 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 10% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 15% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 17% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 36% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 45% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 46% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 48% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 49% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 50% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 73% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
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You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Watford's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Watford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lingfield Way Open Space | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Nascot Grange Play Area | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Riverside Recreation Ground Playground | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Munden Drive Open Space | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | 5 |
| Stanborough Park | 13 | - | 1 | - | 15 | 15 |
| King George V Playing Fields Playground | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Harwoods Recreation Ground Playground | 8 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Meriden Park | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 15 |
| Nascot Grange Open Space | 5 | - | 1 | - | 8 | 5 |
| Attenborough's Fields | 2 | - | 1 | - | 13 | 3 |
| Harwoods Adventurous Playground | 8 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Radlett Road Playing Fields | 5 | 8 | 5 | - | 19 | 15 |
| Brightwell Allotments | - | 1 | - | - | 8 | 7 |
| Berry Avenue Open Space | 7 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 | 14 |
| St Mary's Open Space | 75 | 19 | 33 | 11 | 106 | 165 |
| East Drive Playground | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Orchard Park Playground | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Lea Farm Play Area | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Leggatts Green Play Area | 3 | - | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Buryfield Nature Garden | 13 | 2 | 5 | - | 33 | 55 |
| Oxhey Activity Park | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 5 |
| Fullerians Rugby Football Club | 2 | - | 2 | - | 2 | 0 |
| Oxhey Bowls Club | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| Goodwood Recreation Ground Playground | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
| Goodwood Recreation Ground | 1 | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
| New Field | 2 | - | 2 | - | 2 | 0 |
| Cherry Tree Allotment Gardens | 29 | 4 | 2 | - | 49 | 43 |
| Orchard Park | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 7 | 4 |
| Cheslyn House and Gardens | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Callowland Recreation Ground | 13 | - | 2 | 1 | 20 | 19 |
| Stamford Road Playground | 7 | 6 | 1 | - | 14 | 11 |
| Knutsford Recreation Ground | - | - | - | - | 1 | 7 |
| Knutsford Playground | - | - | - | - | 1 | 7 |
| Timberlake Allotments | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | 6 | 1 |
| Chester Road Allotments | 10 | - | - | - | 15 | 8 |
| Vicarage Road Cemetery | 61 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 133 | 73 |
| Harwoods Recreation Ground | 8 | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Waterfields Recreation Ground | 17 | 8 | 5 | - | 25 | 30 |
| Watford Fields Recreation Ground Playground | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 2 |
| Watford Fields Recreation Ground | 54 | 4 | 17 | 6 | 46 | 116 |
| Oxhey Park | 18 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 20 |
| King George V Playing Fields | 18 | 2 | 5 | - | 24 | 10 |
| Riverside Park | 14 | 3 | 5 | - | 18 | 27 |
| Oxhey Green | 2 | - | - | - | 7 | 3 |
| Oxhey Grange Playing Fields | 2 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| Cassiobury Park | 30 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 37 | 20 |
| Callowland Allotments | 3 | - | 2 | - | 15 | 10 |
| North Watford Cemetery | 4 | - | - | - | 9 | 5 |
| Harebreaks Recreation Ground | 3 | - | 3 | - | 8 | 3 |
| Lea Farm Recreation Ground | 9 | - | 6 | 1 | 9 | 11 |
| Woodside Recreation Ground | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 28 |
| Hill Farm Play Area | 2 | 2 | - | - | 2 | 6 |
| Woodside Stadium | 11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 9 |
| Watford Leisure Centre Woodside | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 9 |
| Watford Indoor Bowls Club | 11 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
| Garston Park | 35 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 4 |
| Watford Leisure Centre Central | - | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Meriden Park Playground | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 13 |
| Leavesden Green | 6 | 1 | 3 | - | 20 | 13 |
| Holywell Farm Allotments | 14 | 2 | 3 | - | 34 | 22 |
| Cassio Common | 20 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 8 |
| Estcourt Road Pocket Park | 4 | - | 1 | - | 13 | 11 |
| Leavesden Green Playground | 4 | - | 3 | - | 9 | 8 |
| East Drive Recreation Ground | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 4 | 2 |
| Callowland Recreation Ground Playground | 6 | - | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
| Waterfields Playground | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Recent Crimes in Watford
The 20 most recent crime reports in Watford.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Turnstones | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Courtlands Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Cromer Road | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Sports/Recreation Area | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Long Croft | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Sports/Recreation Area | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near The Turnstones | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Halsey Place | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Courtlands Close | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Sports/Recreation Area | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Clarke Green | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Horseshoe Lane | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Clarke Green | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Ivinghoe Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Lammas Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Lammas Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near The Turnstones | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Fuller Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near The Turnstones | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Horseshoe Lane |
Methodology & Data Sources
Watford 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 Watford 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.
Watford Data Points
For Watford, 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 E43000082.
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 Watford's daytime - or "workday" - population of 94,196 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 Watford