Crime rates in Gloucestershire are on the decline, but a newly released interactive map highlights Gloucester as the county’s most dangerous area, where approximately one in three residents have fallen victim to crime.
In 2024, police recorded over 47,000 crimes in Gloucestershire, marking a reduction of about 7,000 incidents compared to the previous year — a 13% decrease that stands as the largest drop among the 43 domestic police forces in England and Wales. This overall improvement reflects positive progress in law enforcement and community safety.
Despite the encouraging countywide statistics, Gloucester stands out with the highest crime rate, reporting 15,343 offences. This equates to 115 crimes per 1,000 residents, the highest in Gloucestershire and ranking 31st among more than 300 community safety partnership areas across England and Wales. Simply put, this means that roughly one out of every three people in Gloucester has been a crime victim.
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Following Gloucester, Cheltenham records 82 crimes per 1,000 residents, while Stroud reports 53 per 1,000. These figures provide valuable insights into the varying levels of criminal activity across the county.
Recent data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW), which complements police records by including unreported offences, estimates that there were 9.6 million incidents of headline crimes in 2024. These cover categories such as theft, robbery, criminal damage, fraud, computer misuse, and violent crime, with notable increases in fraud and theft.
Fraud alone surged by 33%, impacting an estimated 4.1 million victims, while theft rose by 13% to about 2.9 million incidents. Despite these increases, overall crime against individuals and households has generally declined over the past decade, albeit with troubling exceptions such as sexual assault.
The survey also revealed concerning figures related to personal safety: approximately 2 million adults experienced domestic abuse, 1.5 million were targeted by stalkers, and around one million were victims of sexual assault. Furthermore, crimes involving knives increased slightly by 2% to under 55,000 incidents, while firearm-related offences fell by 20% to about 5,000.
For residents across Gloucestershire, understanding local crime trends is crucial. The interactive map serves as a tool to track where crime rates are rising or falling and how neighborhoods compare nationally, helping communities stay informed and vigilant.