Crime and Safety in Swanley
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Swanley is among the top 10 most dangerous small towns in Kent, and is the 56th most dangerous overall out of Kent's 331 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Swanley in 2026 is 66 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Kent's overall crime rate, coming in 5% lower than the Kent rate of 69 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Swanley is the 215th most dangerous small town, and the 1,388th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In March 2026, Swanley was the worst small town in Kent for robbery, with 3 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.15 per 1,000 daytime population. April 2026 was also a bad month for Swanley residents, when it was Kent's most dangerous small town for other theft, recording 14 crimes at a rate of 0.71 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Swanley are violence and sexual offences, with 562 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 29. This is 2.4% lower than 2025's figure of 576 offences and a difference of 0.70 from 2025's crime rate of 29. Swanley's least common crime is theft from the person, with 2 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 50% from 2025's figure of 4 crimes.
Swanley 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 10 Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Kent
7% higher, regional crime rate
South East
9% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Swanley is 7% higher than the South East and 9% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Swanley Crime Rate Over Time
| Swanley | |
| South East | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Swanley Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Swanley 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 Swanley Compares
You can compare Swanley'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 Swanley's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Swanley up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Swanley's 362 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 Swanley? 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
Swanley • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Swanley has a crime risk score of 425. This is based on analysis of 362 nearby areas within Swanley, 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 Swanley's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Swanley, crime risk scores are typically around 425, while in Kent they are average 475.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 447 (475 for Kent), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 519 (Kent 489).
Trends in Crime Risk
Swanley
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 29% in Swanley'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 Swanley's crime risk score is down by 37%. 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, Swanley's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 9%, 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
Swanley
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
Swanley • 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.
Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 0.85 reports per 1,000 people in Swanley, which is 1.52 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 17 crime reports logged by Kent Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Kent Police recorded 75 reports of Drugs in Swanley, resulting in a crime rate of 3.82 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.24.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 1.23 times the national average at 7.71 reports per 1,000. This is from 152 crime reports reported to Kent Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Swanley
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.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Swanley
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.90 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.25 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 28% over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.31 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 a decrease of 68% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.83 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.70 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 19% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Swanley • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Swanley | Kent | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 323 | 16.44 | 1.16 | 33,285 | 15.94 | 1.13 | 115,500 | 10.87 | 0.77 |
| Bicycle Theft | 5 | 0.25 | 0.83 | 1,031 | 0.49 | 0.67 | 7,315 | 0.68 | 0.93 |
| Burglary | 31 | 1.55 | 0.50 | 4,454 | 2.13 | 0.68 | 23,535 | 2.23 | 0.71 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 152 | 7.71 | 1.23 | 16,208 | 7.75 | 1.23 | 58,501 | 5.50 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 75 | 3.82 | 1.24 | 6,414 | 3.08 | 1.00 | 25,203 | 2.37 | 0.77 |
| Other Crime | 54 | 2.75 | 1.63 | 4,961 | 2.39 | 1.29 | 17,151 | 1.61 | 0.87 |
| Other Theft | 93 | 4.73 | 0.83 | 11,589 | 5.56 | 0.98 | 51,336 | 4.84 | 0.85 |
| Possession of Weapons | 17 | 0.85 | 1.52 | 1,853 | 0.87 | 1.02 | 8,736 | 0.81 | 0.95 |
| Public Order | 70 | 3.56 | 0.61 | 7,424 | 3.57 | 0.62 | 54,745 | 5.15 | 0.89 |
| Robbery | 16 | 0.80 | 0.74 | 1,479 | 0.73 | 0.62 | 7,588 | 0.72 | 0.61 |
| Shoplifting | 127 | 6.49 | 0.91 | 16,401 | 7.86 | 1.10 | 72,983 | 6.88 | 0.96 |
| Theft From the Person | 2 | 0.10 | 0.40 | 763 | 0.37 | 0.24 | 4,668 | 0.45 | 0.29 |
| Vehicle Crime | 87 | 4.43 | 1.03 | 7,243 | 3.48 | 0.81 | 34,099 | 3.22 | 0.75 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 562 | 28.61 | 0.94 | 64,584 | 30.92 | 1.02 | 286,815 | 26.98 | 0.89 |
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Total Crime by Year
Swanley | Kent | South East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,291 | 65.65 | 0.94 | 144,404 | 69.20 | 0.96 | 652,675 | 61.44 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 1,388 | 70.89 | 1.00 | 153,480 | 74.18 | 1.00 | 670,274 | 63.35 | 0.86 |
| 2024 | 1,739 | 90.43 | 1.24 | 162,626 | 79.53 | 1.05 | 690,903 | 65.86 | 0.87 |
| 2023 | 1,955 | 103.67 | 1.35 | 167,520 | 82.95 | 1.05 | 713,547 | 68.83 | 0.87 |
| 2022 | 1,791 | 95.71 | 1.29 | 176,002 | 88.22 | 1.15 | 704,444 | 68.58 | 0.89 |
| 2021 | 1,802 | 96.56 | 1.45 | 161,638 | 81.59 | 1.19 | 625,484 | 61.36 | 0.89 |
| 2020 | 1,684 | 90.99 | 1.27 | 176,505 | 89.63 | 1.21 | 669,219 | 65.97 | 0.89 |
| 2019 | 1,760 | 96.00 | 1.30 | 185,038 | 94.50 | 1.24 | 666,505 | 65.82 | 0.86 |
| 2018 | 1,806 | 99.59 | 1.45 | 180,609 | 92.70 | 1.30 | 644,142 | 63.85 | 0.90 |
| 2017 | 1,294 | 71.92 | 1.19 | 132,537 | 68.41 | 1.07 | 552,696 | 55.04 | 0.86 |
| 2016 | 452 | 25.16 | 1.37 | 37,766 | 19.54 | 1.02 | 160,273 | 15.99 | 0.84 |
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Swanley Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swanscombe and Greenhithe | 1,104 | 74.37 | 13% more dangerous |
| Snodland | 867 | 67.96 | 3.5% more dangerous |
| Paddock Wood | 665 | 67.45 | 2.7% more dangerous |
| Faversham | 1,691 | 69.30 | 6% more dangerous |
| Swanley | 1,291 | 65.65 | - |
| Edenbridge | 694 | 62.84 | 4.3% safer |
| Tenterden | 493 | 53.74 | 18% safer |
| Deal | 1,254 | 58.70 | 11% safer |
| Hoo St. Werburgh | 682 | 51.26 | 22% safer |
| Minster-on-Sea | 947 | 52.24 | 20% safer |
| Aylesford | 702 | 49.73 | 24% safer |
| Hawkinge | 376 | 43.61 | 34% safer |
| Walmer | 304 | 37.68 | 43% safer |
| East Malling and Larkfield | 807 | 48.40 | 26% safer |
| Frindsbury Extra | 440 | 42.58 | 35% safer |
| Sevenoaks | 1,137 | 44.37 | 32% safer |
Comparing Swanley to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Swanley | 65.65 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 21% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 26% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 28% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 49% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 59% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 60% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 62% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 63% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 64% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 90% 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 Swanley's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Swanley 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swanley Park | 10 | - | 8 | - | 45 | 15 |
| Batholomew Way Park | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 37 |
Recent Crimes in Swanley
The 20 most recent crime reports in Swanley.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Birches | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Birches | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Birches | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Orchard | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near The Birches | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Moultain Hill | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Edwards Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Other crime | On or near Lilac Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Moultain Hill | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Bramley Close | |
| April 2026 | Possession of weapons | On or near Southern Place | |
| April 2026 | Robbery | On or near Lilac Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near New Road | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Waylands | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Waylands | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Garrolds Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Moultain Hill | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Moultain Hill |
Methodology & Data Sources
Swanley 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 Swanley during June 2026 will typically become available in August 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.
Swanley Data Points
For Swanley, 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 E04012399.
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 Swanley's daytime - or "workday" - population of 14,379 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 Swanley