Medway crime rate Interactive maps and visualisation

Overview of Medway crime rate

Essential tools against vehicle theft.

Medway’s crime severity is considered high, ranking it 2nd among 25 surrounding districts in terms of crime rates. The area recorded 33,721 incidents in 2023, with a population of 279,773, equating to a crime rate of 120.53 per 1,000 people. This figure indicates a 5.78% reduction from the prior year.

The most frequent crime categories in Medway are Violence and sexual offences (41.9%), Anti-social behaviour (14.8%), and Criminal damage and arson (9.3%). The least common are Robbery (0.8%), Theft from the person (0.5%), and Bicycle theft (0.4%).

Among Medway’s 22 wards, those with the highest crime rates include River (Medway) (328.4), Gillingham South (197.2), and Rochester West (173.8), while the safest are Rainham South (54.3), Rainham Central (49.6), and Hempstead and Wigmore (46.0).

Looking at postcode districts within Medway, ME4 (227.7), ME7 (154.1), and ME1 (128.6) have the highest crime rates. The safest are ME9 (75.2), ME3 (70.1), and ME8 (69.6).

In Medway, there has been a noticeable increase in Anti-social behaviour by approximately 10.67% since 2020, alongside rises in Other theft and Vehicle crime in 2022, and a notable increase in Violence and sexual offences by around 6.34% in 2021. On the flip side, Anti-social behaviour saw a decrease of about 6.39% in 2021 and 6.7% in 2022. Additionally, there has been a decrease in Burglary, Other theft, and Vehicle crime in 2020, with Violence and sexual offences also showing significant reductions in 2022 and 2023.

Medway crime incidents by crime type

A total of 33721 crime incidents were reported in 2023. Below is the breakdown by crime type.

Violence and sexual offences – 14140 (41.9)%
Anti-social behaviour – 4985 (14.8)%
Criminal damage and arson – 3144 (9.3)%
Other theft – 2199 (6.5)%
Public order – 1982 (5.9)%
Shoplifting – 1967 (5.8)%
Vehicle crime – 1596 (4.7)%
Other crime – 1030 (3.1)%
Burglary – 968 (2.9)%
Drugs – 826 (2.4)%
Possession of weapons – 311 (0.9)%
Robbery – 264 (0.8)%
Theft from the person – 183 (0.5)%
Bicycle theft – 126 (0.4)%

How does Medway compare against nearby areas ?

Medway ranks 2nd 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 Medway is compared against

Crime rates in Medway wards

There are 22 wards within Medway. River (Medway), Gillingham South, Rochester West has highest crime rate (crime per 1000 residents). Below map shows 2023 crime rates broken down by crime types.

get-ward-map/medway/

List of all 22 wards from high crime rate to low.