Crime and Safety in Erith, Bexley

Last updated: 07 Jun 2026

Page highlights:

The most common crimes in Erith are violence and sexual offences, with 494 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 34. This is 10% higher than 2025's figure of 450 offences and a difference of 2.74 from 2025's crime rate of 32. Erith's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 7 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 40% from 2025's figure of 5 crimes.

Erith 2026 Crime Scorecard

53% higher, borough crime rate

London

28% higher, national crime rate

England, Wales & NI

Local Crime in Context

As of April 2026, the crime rate in Bexley is 53% higher than London and 28% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.

Bexley Crime Rate Over Time

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Erith
Bexley
London

Erith Crime Map

Incidents mapped in Erith represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.

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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.

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Introduction to Erith's crime statistics

 

This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Erith up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Erith's 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.

Overview map crime around Erith

Crime Risk Scores

Erith • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

The typical five-minute walk within Erith has a crime risk score of 622. This is based on analysis of 100 nearby areas within Erith, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.

Five Mins
622 crime risk score
Ten Mins
702 crime risk score
Fifteen Mins
750 crime risk score

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 Erith's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.

Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Erith, crime risk scores are typically around 622, while in Bexley they are average 440.

Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 702 (538 for Bexley), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 750 (Bexley 593).

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Trends in Crime Risk

Erith

 

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.

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The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 3.3% in Erith'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 Erith's crime risk score is down by 2.3%. 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, Erith's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 12%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.

Crime Rates and Indexes

Erith

 

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

Erith • 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.

Drugs
3.09 CrimeRate Index
Robbery
2.02 CrimeRate Index
Possession of Weapons
1.83 CrimeRate Index

Drugs offences have a crime rate of 9.54 reports per 1,000 people in Erith, which is 3.09 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 137 crime reports logged by Metropolitan Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.

For the same period, Metropolitan Police recorded 31 reports of Robbery in Erith, resulting in a crime rate of 2.16 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.02.

The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 1.83 times the national average at 1.32 reports per 1,000. This is from 19 crime reports reported to Metropolitan Police.

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Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types

Erith

 

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.

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Drugs offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.87 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.05 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 17% over this timeframe.

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Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.15 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.92 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 25% over this timeframe.

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Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.58 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 0.54 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 7% over this timeframe.

Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types

Erith

 

Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.

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Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.41 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 2.78 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 85% over this timeframe.

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Robbery offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.00 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 2.44 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 18% over this timeframe.

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Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.18 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.04 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 13% over this timeframe.

Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map

Erith • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.

 
Erith
Bexley
London
Crime TypeCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
Anti-Social Behaviour36125.111.783,92014.701.04235,98521.681.53
Bicycle Theft70.481.71710.270.3713,6951.261.73
Burglary594.091.317772.900.9347,3594.341.39
Criminal Damage and Arson14710.211.631,6236.090.9754,0984.990.79
Drugs1379.543.091,0163.811.2353,1674.871.58
Other Crime191.320.942871.070.5813,0081.190.64
Other Theft1188.191.441,1834.430.7897,4528.971.58
Possession of Weapons191.321.831210.460.546,4430.600.71
Public Order1097.561.301,2224.580.7960,0495.520.95
Robbery312.162.023291.231.0430,8042.832.40
Shoplifting573.960.561,5805.930.8387,9768.091.13
Theft From the Person161.110.972380.910.5977,1607.114.59
Vehicle Crime1097.581.761,6126.061.4181,7557.501.74
Violence and Sexual Offences49434.351.135,97522.400.74273,43425.120.83
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Total Crime by Year

 
Erith
Bexley
London
YearCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
20261,32291.871.3016,03460.140.84896,40082.391.14
20251,37096.571.3516,32961.570.83896,96183.231.12
20241,529110.721.5116,69863.690.84900,98684.381.12
20231,395104.471.3515,61060.610.77835,47178.981.00
20221,361104.221.3915,31759.870.78795,64675.770.99
20211,621123.891.8414,58557.010.83727,98369.091.01
20201,718133.751.8616,61064.960.88819,46777.661.05
20191,587126.321.6816,05663.050.83849,31080.701.06
20181,265103.751.4914,61857.610.81810,06377.081.08
20171,15897.031.5613,35552.800.83758,16072.411.13
201634128.711.584,17516.510.87234,56522.421.18
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Erith Compared to Other Bexley Neighbourhoods

12 Months Ending Apr 2026

 

NeighbourhoodTotal CrimesCrime RateRate Difference
Thamesmead North1222.4476% safer
Lessness Heath84160.4134% safer
Slade Green1,22871.6322% safer
Abbey Wood2,46884.468% safer
Belvedere88699.789% more dangerous

Frequently Asked Questions

Crime in Bexley

 

What is Erith's most common crime?
The most common crimes in Erith are violence and sexual offences.

What is the least common crime in Erith?
Erith's least common crime is bicycle theft.