Crime and Safety in Bow Common, Tower Hamlets
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The most common crimes in Bow Common are violence and sexual offences, with 956 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 34. This is 5% higher than 2025's figure of 909 offences and a difference of 1.53 from 2025's crime rate of 32. Bow Common's least common crimes are possession of weapons, with 24 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 41% from 2025's figure of 17 crimes.
Bow Common 2026 Crime Scorecard
34% higher, borough crime rate
London
29% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Tower Hamlets is 34% higher than London and 29% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Tower Hamlets Crime Rate Over Time
| Bow Common | |
| Tower Hamlets | |
| London |
Bow Common Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Bow Common 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.
Introduction to Bow Common's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Bow Common up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Bow Common's 19 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.
Crime Risk Scores
Bow Common • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Bow Common has a crime risk score of 700. This is based on analysis of 19 nearby areas within Bow Common, 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 Bow Common's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Bow Common, crime risk scores are typically around 700, while in Tower Hamlets they are average 651.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 759 (731 for Tower Hamlets), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 804 (Tower Hamlets 783).
Trends in Crime Risk
Bow Common
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 13% in Bow Common'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 Bow Common's crime risk score is up by 12%. 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, Bow Common's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 7%, 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
Bow Common
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
Bow Common • 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.
Theft From the Person offences have a crime rate of 7.39 reports per 1,000 people in Bow Common, which is 4.77 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 209 crime reports logged by Metropolitan Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Metropolitan Police recorded 90 reports of Robbery in Bow Common, resulting in a crime rate of 3.20 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.71.
The crime rate for Drugs is 2.36 times the national average at 7.28 reports per 1,000. This is from 205 crime reports reported to Metropolitan Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Bow Common
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.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.02 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.13 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 10% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 7.33 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Theft From the Person CrimeRate Index was 1.69 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 334% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.98 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.81 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 21% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Bow Common
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
No significant decreases identified.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Bow Common • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Bow Common | Tower Hamlets | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 874 | 30.95 | 2.19 | 11,045 | 20.37 | 1.44 | 235,985 | 21.68 | 1.53 |
| Bicycle Theft | 48 | 1.72 | 2.36 | 998 | 1.83 | 2.51 | 13,695 | 1.26 | 1.73 |
| Burglary | 159 | 5.63 | 1.80 | 2,348 | 4.32 | 1.38 | 47,359 | 4.34 | 1.39 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 168 | 5.97 | 0.95 | 2,038 | 3.75 | 0.60 | 54,098 | 4.99 | 0.79 |
| Drugs | 205 | 7.28 | 2.36 | 2,887 | 5.33 | 1.72 | 53,167 | 4.87 | 1.58 |
| Other Crime | 46 | 1.62 | 0.95 | 487 | 0.88 | 0.48 | 13,008 | 1.19 | 0.64 |
| Other Theft | 201 | 7.12 | 1.25 | 3,938 | 7.25 | 1.27 | 97,452 | 8.97 | 1.58 |
| Possession of Weapons | 24 | 0.86 | 1.21 | 276 | 0.50 | 0.59 | 6,443 | 0.60 | 0.71 |
| Public Order | 156 | 5.54 | 0.96 | 2,774 | 5.10 | 0.88 | 60,049 | 5.52 | 0.95 |
| Robbery | 90 | 3.20 | 2.71 | 1,254 | 2.30 | 1.95 | 30,804 | 2.83 | 2.40 |
| Shoplifting | 146 | 5.14 | 0.72 | 3,417 | 6.30 | 0.88 | 87,976 | 8.09 | 1.13 |
| Theft From the Person | 209 | 7.39 | 4.77 | 2,766 | 5.10 | 3.29 | 77,160 | 7.11 | 4.59 |
| Vehicle Crime | 210 | 7.44 | 1.73 | 2,596 | 4.78 | 1.11 | 81,755 | 7.50 | 1.74 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 956 | 33.84 | 1.11 | 11,709 | 21.59 | 0.71 | 273,434 | 25.12 | 0.83 |
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Total Crime by Year
Bow Common | Tower Hamlets | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 2,618 | 92.75 | 1.29 | 37,488 | 69.03 | 0.96 | 896,400 | 82.39 | 1.14 |
| 2025 | 2,369 | 84.49 | 1.15 | 35,452 | 65.28 | 0.88 | 896,961 | 83.23 | 1.12 |
| 2024 | 2,189 | 78.81 | 1.05 | 35,635 | 66.28 | 0.88 | 900,986 | 84.38 | 1.12 |
| 2023 | 2,141 | 78.19 | 1.01 | 32,620 | 60.85 | 0.77 | 835,471 | 78.98 | 1.00 |
| 2022 | 1,994 | 74.48 | 1.00 | 32,196 | 60.98 | 0.79 | 795,646 | 75.77 | 0.99 |
| 2021 | 2,084 | 78.55 | 1.16 | 30,170 | 57.64 | 0.84 | 727,983 | 69.09 | 1.01 |
| 2020 | 1,916 | 72.52 | 1.00 | 31,037 | 59.21 | 0.80 | 819,467 | 77.66 | 1.05 |
| 2019 | 2,066 | 79.27 | 1.05 | 33,866 | 64.76 | 0.85 | 849,310 | 80.70 | 1.06 |
| 2018 | 1,796 | 71.19 | 1.05 | 31,349 | 60.39 | 0.85 | 810,063 | 77.08 | 1.08 |
| 2017 | 1,985 | 80.70 | 1.32 | 30,223 | 59.43 | 0.93 | 758,160 | 72.41 | 1.13 |
| 2016 | 566 | 23.13 | 1.25 | 8,887 | 17.61 | 0.92 | 234,565 | 22.42 | 1.18 |
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Bow Common Compared to Other Tower Hamlets Neighbourhoods
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Neighbourhood | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 2,301 | 77.86 | 16% safer |
| Limehouse | 1,369 | 97.00 | 4.6% more dangerous |
| Poplar | 3,494 | 103.11 | 11% more dangerous |
| Bromley-by-Bow | 1,500 | 104.91 | 13% more dangerous |
| Mile End | 1,159 | 142.15 | 53% more dangerous |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Tower Hamlets