Chelmsford crime rate Interactive maps and visualisation

Overview of Chelmsford crime rate

Essential tools against vehicle theft.

Chelmsford’s crime landscape is deemed medium, positioned 14th among 25 adjacent boroughs in crime rates. The year 2023 saw Chelmsford experiencing 17,547 criminal incidents. With its population tallying at 181,523, the crime ratio stands at 96.67 incidents per 1,000 people, reflecting a slight decline of 1.02% from the prior year.

Leading the list of common crimes are Violence and sexual offences (39.3%), Public order (8.5%), and Shoplifting (8.3%), with the rarer occurrences being Robbery (0.9%), Possession of weapons (0.8%), and Theft from the person (0.8%).

Among Chelmsford’s 24 wards, Moulsham and Central (312.7), Marconi (154.6), and Waterhouse Farm (153.0) report the highest crime rates. Conversely, the safest wards are The Lawns (40.6), Moulsham Lodge (36.3), and South Woodham-Chetwood and Collingwood (29.2).

In the postcode districts within or overlapping Chelmsford, CM1 (126.8), CM77 (112.1), and CM2 (97.8) show higher crime figures, whereas CM3 (54.5), CM4 (49.5), and CM11 (41.7) are the safest.

In Chelmsford, the crime landscape has shown significant shifts. Notably, there’s been an increase in Anti-social behaviour in 2020, alongside rises in Shoplifting and Vehicle crime in 2023. Violence and sexual offences also saw a notable uptick in 2021. Conversely, the area experienced a pronounced decrease in Anti-social behaviour from 2021 to 2023, with significant reductions also noted in Burglary, Criminal damage and arson, and Other theft in 2020, pointing to a complex and evolving crime trend picture.

Chelmsford crime incidents by crime type

A total of 17547 crime incidents were reported in 2023. Below is the breakdown by crime type.

Violence and sexual offences – 6891 (39.3)%
Public order – 1496 (8.5)%
Shoplifting – 1461 (8.3)%
Vehicle crime – 1381 (7.9)%
Anti-social behaviour – 1282 (7.3)%
Other theft – 1272 (7.2)%
Criminal damage and arson – 1223 (7.0)%
Burglary – 941 (5.4)%
Drugs – 495 (2.8)%
Other crime – 337 (1.9)%
Bicycle theft – 333 (1.9)%
Robbery – 156 (0.9)%
Possession of weapons – 145 (0.8)%
Theft from the person – 134 (0.8)%

How does Chelmsford compare against nearby areas ?

Chelmsford ranks 14th when compared against 25 nearby boroughs/local administrative districts.

List of nearby boroughs/local administrative districts from high crime rate to low (2023):

Heat map for all nearby areas Chelmsford is compared against

Crime rates in Chelmsford wards

There are 24 wards within Chelmsford. Moulsham and Central, Marconi, Waterhouse Farm has highest crime rate (crime per 1000 residents). Below map shows 2023 crime rates broken down by crime types.

get-ward-map/chelmsford/

List of all 24 wards from high crime rate to low.