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Crime & Safety

Bexley is consistently in the top 5 for safety

Top 5 for safety

Bexley is one of the safest boroughs (consistently in the top 5 for safety) in London, with a low number of offences compared to the rest of London.

Decreased in 2020 by % change

  • burglary (41.5%)
  • vehicle offences (30.3%)
  • theft (22%)
  • robbery (19.3%)
  • arson and criminal damage (12.4%)
  • possession of weapons (8.6%)
  • sexual offences (3.6%)

Increased in 2020 by % change

  • drug offences (11.5%)
  • public order offences (11%)
  • violence against the person (0.02%)

Most prevalent offences  

  • violence against the person (34%)
  • vehicle offences (15%)
  • theft (14%)
  • arson & criminal damage (9%) 

Equalities and crime

Equalities and crime

Domestic abuse incidents (police-reported) have increased by 6.3% from 3,835 in 2019 to 4,078 in 2020.

Overall, there were 543 counts of hate crime in Bexley in 2020. This has risen since 2019 by 155.

The largest number of hate crimes were on the basis of race or religion.

  • Anti-Semitic: 2
  • Disability: 19
  • Faith: 30
  • Homophobic: 57
  • Islamophobic: 12
  • Racist & Religious: 418
  • Transgender: 5

In the Bexley Crime Survey 2020, 75% had not witnessed or been subject to a hate crime incident in Bexley, however, 24% had. Of those who had been the victim of a hate crime, only 10.6% reported it to the police.

Safety priorities

Residents told us in the 2020 Crime Survey their top local priorities for 2021 were burglary, drug-related issues and gang-related activity.

When asked ‘How safe do you feel in Bexley?’ most respondents answered 8/10, with 1 being the least safe and 10 being the safest.

London - wide priorities for 2021/22

  • sexual violence
  • domestic abuse
  • hate crime
  • child sexual exploitation
  • weapon based (knife and gun crime)
  • anti-social behaviour

Bexley Community Safety Partnership priorities for 2021/22

  • violent crime
  • victims (including victims of DA, burglary & hate crime)
  • anti-social behaviour
map of London and Bexley

Sources