Crime and Safety in St. James's, Westminster

Last updated: 07 Jun 2026

Page highlights:

The most common crime in St. James's is theft from the person, with 766 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 26. This is 14% lower than 2025's figure of 889 offences and a difference of 4.17 from 2025's crime rate of 31. St. James's's least common crimes are possession of weapons, with 4 offences recorded in 2026, the same as 2025's figure of 4 crimes.

St. James's 2026 Crime Scorecard

40% lower, borough crime rate

London

3.9% higher, national crime rate

England, Wales & NI

Local Crime in Context

As of April 2026, the crime rate in Westminster is 40% lower than London and 3.9% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.

Westminster Crime Rate Over Time

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St. James's
Westminster
London

St. James's Crime Map

Incidents mapped in St. James's 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 St. James's's crime statistics

 

This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around St. James's up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of St. James's's 13 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 St. James's

Crime Risk Scores

St. James's • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

The typical five-minute walk within St. James's has a crime risk score of 759. This is based on analysis of 13 nearby areas within St. James's, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.

Five Mins
759 crime risk score
Ten Mins
861 crime risk score
Fifteen Mins
888 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 St. James's's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.

Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in St. James's, crime risk scores are typically around 759, while in Westminster they are average 690.

Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 861 (761 for Westminster), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 888 (Westminster 804).

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Trends in Crime Risk

St. James's

 

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 an increase of 25% in St. James's'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 St. James's's crime risk score is up by 60%. 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, St. James's's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 12%, 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

St. James's

 

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

St. James's • 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
17.03 CrimeRate Index
Robbery
2.83 CrimeRate Index
Vehicle Crime
0.77 CrimeRate Index

Theft From the Person offences have a crime rate of 26 reports per 1,000 people in St. James's, which is 17 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 766 crime reports logged by Metropolitan Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.

For the same period, Metropolitan Police recorded 97 reports of Robbery in St. James's, resulting in a crime rate of 3.34 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.83.

The crime rate for Vehicle Crime is 0.77 times the national average at 3.30 reports per 1,000. This is from 96 crime reports reported to Metropolitan Police.

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Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types

St. James's

 

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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Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.65 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.47 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 38% over this timeframe.

Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types

St. James's

 

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

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Vehicle Crime offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.29 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 0.75 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 61% over this timeframe.

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Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.30 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.48 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 38% over this timeframe.

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Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 1.43 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.

Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map

St. James's • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

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

 
St. James's
Westminster
London
Crime TypeCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
Anti-Social Behaviour2438.380.5913,37422.231.57235,98521.681.53
Bicycle Theft270.911.259351.562.1413,6951.261.73
Burglary280.960.372,6184.361.3947,3594.341.39
Criminal Damage and Arson551.890.332,2163.680.5954,0984.990.79
Drugs521.790.632,9334.901.5953,1674.871.58
Other Crime100.320.294870.790.4313,0081.190.64
Other Theft46616.082.8315,64726.004.5797,4528.971.58
Possession of Weapons40.130.593570.610.726,4430.600.71
Public Order1204.150.723,6436.061.0460,0495.520.95
Robbery973.342.832,9604.934.1830,8042.832.40
Shoplifting1314.530.648,02513.341.8787,9768.091.13
Theft From the Person76626.391719,99333.212177,1607.114.59
Vehicle Crime963.300.772,9504.901.1481,7557.501.74
Violence and Sexual Offences31810.980.3612,43420.680.68273,43425.120.83
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Total Crime by Year

 
St. James's
Westminster
London
YearCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
20262,17074.771.0875,198125.021.74896,40082.391.14
20252,55886.561.2184,643140.591.90896,96183.231.12
20242,55785.371.1788,968147.251.95900,98684.381.12
20231,80458.440.7678,518128.701.63835,47178.981.00
20221,34441.940.5658,00594.081.22795,64675.770.99
202172922.710.3435,05556.330.82727,98369.091.01
20201,74852.670.7265,976104.481.41819,46777.661.05
20191,89157.250.7768,821108.651.42849,31080.701.06
20181,36741.460.5955,33786.221.21810,06377.081.08
20171,24837.920.6049,36476.371.19758,16072.411.13
201635810.930.6015,07223.301.22234,56522.421.18
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St. James's Compared to Other Westminster Neighbourhoods

12 Months Ending Apr 2026

 

NeighbourhoodTotal CrimesCrime RateRate Difference
St James's Park307287.31284% more dangerous
Charing Cross730347.68365% more dangerous
Chinatown1,427378.15406% more dangerous
Leicester Square2,5821184.781485% more dangerous

Frequently Asked Questions

Crime in Westminster

 

What is St. James's's most common crime?
The most common crime in St. James's is theft from the person (inc. pickpocketing).

What is the least common crime in St. James's?
St. James's's least common crimes are possession of weapons.