What is the crime rate in county durham?

As of March 2026, county durham has an annual crime rate of 98.2 per 1,000 residents, based on 5,603 recorded offences in the latest month.

How does county durham rank nationally for crime?

county durham ranks #8 out of 330 local authorities by total crime volume.

What is the most common crime in county durham?

The most common crime type in county durham is Violence & Sexual Offences with 1,846 incidents in March 2026, accounting for 32.9% of all crime.

March 2026 Source: Durham Constabulary Police

county durham Crime Intelligence Report

county durham recorded 5,603 crimes in March 2026, equating to a crime rate of 10.73 per 1,000 residents. This places county durham at #8 of 330 local authorities nationally by total crime volume. Crime has increased by 20.3% compared to the previous month. Year-on-year, crime levels are 13.3% higher.

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Data Sources:Police.ukONS Census 2021HM Land Registry Period: March 2026 • Updated monthly

Total Crimes

5,603

trending_up +20.3% vs last month

Annual Crime Rate

98.2per 1k

Moderate

National Safety

#226of 330

Ranked by annual rate

National Population

522,067

Estimated population

12-Month Crime Trend

Monthly Totals

Interactive Crime Map

District View

Live Points

Crime Incident

Area Boundary

Incident Distribution

Top Locations

Location Reference	Crime Breakdown	Primary Count
On or near Supermarket Map	Shoplifting: 132	132
On or near Parking Area Map	Anti-social behaviour: 63 Burglary: 13	63
On or near Shopping Area Map	Shoplifting: 49 Violence and sexual offences: 13	49
On or near Supermarket Map	Anti-social behaviour: 57	57
On or near Parking Area Map	Violence and sexual offences: 55	55
On or near Hardwick Street Map	Shoplifting: 51	51
On or near Supermarket Map	Violence and sexual offences: 29 Robbery: 1	29
On or near Parking Area Map	Shoplifting: 29	29
On or near Parking Area Map	Criminal damage and arson: 29	29
On or near Sports/Recreation Area Map	Violence and sexual offences: 27	27

Crime Breakdown

March 2026

5,603 Total

Violence & Sexual Offences

1,846

32.9%

Anti-social Behaviour

1,027

18.3%

Criminal Damage & Arson

732

13.1%

Shoplifting

549

9.8%

Public Order

363

6.5%

Burglary

247

4.4%

Other Theft

246

4.4%

Vehicle Crime

194

3.5%

Other Crime

190

3.4%

Drug Offences

117

2.1%

Weapons Possession

0.7%

Robbery

0.5%

Theft from Person

0.3%

Bicycle Theft

0.2%

Stop & Search

March 2026

277

Total Stops

18.4%

Arrest Rate

Neighbourhoods

Reason for Stop

Controlled drugs

161

Article for use in theft

Offensive weapons

Stolen goods

Articles for use in criminal damage

Game or poaching equipment

Firearms

Outcome

A no further action disposal160

Arrest51

Not recorded29

Community resolution25

Summons / charged by post6

Caution (simple or conditional)3

Khat or Cannabis warning3

Gender

Male211

Female43

Other15

Officer-Defined Ethnicity

Self-defined where available

96.7%

White

1.9%

Other

1.1%

Asian

0.4%

Black

Stop & search data published by Durham Constabulary under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: police.uk.

Expert Safety Insights

Ward Safety Rankings

63 wards

Highest Crime

#	Ward	Crimes	Rate
1	West Auckland	153	159.3
2	Murton	119	156.4
3	Horden	158	153.0
4	Shildon and Dene Valley	205	149.7
5	Peterlee East	153	148.5

Safest Wards

	Ward	Crimes	Rate
shield	Durham South	11	1.2
shield	Benfieldside	25	2.1
shield	Chester-le-Street North	19	3.7
shield	Weardale	29	3.2
shield	Bishop Middleham and Cornforth	26	4.6

Growth Analysis

Month-on-Monthtrending_up +20.3%

Year-on-Yeartrending_up +13.3%

12m Rolling Trendtrending_up +1.3%

Data Transparency

Crime rates are calculated per 1,000 residents using ONS Census 2021 population data. Rankings cover all 330 local authorities in England & Wales.

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Durham Constabulary

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