Frequently Asked Questions
Crime data is published differently in each region we cover. Start with the general questions, or pick a region to see how its areas, sources and crime categories work.
You can search any address in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England or Wales. We are always expanding, so stay tuned for more areas.
Each region has its own police service, its own way of counting crime and its own way of dividing the map into local areas. The region tabs at the top of this page explain how each one works.
We use the Google Geocoding API to turn an address into a point on the map, then work out which local area that point falls in.
Google may not return a match when:
- The address is new or not fully mapped.
- The address is too broad, for example just a road name, a town or a public park.
- The location is outside the regions we cover.
We filter out broad areas to avoid ambiguity. Try a full Eircode or postcode, or an address that starts with a house number. If you still have trouble, contact us.
We take the number of crimes recorded in your local area, divide it by the number of people who live there, and express it as crimes per 1,000 residents. We then compare that rate with the average for the same region.
The overall rating has five levels:
- Very Low: 40% or more below the average.
- Low: between 20% and 40% below the average.
- Average: within 20% of the average.
- High: between 20% and 40% above the average.
- Very High: 40% or more above the average.
Each crime category also gets a traffic light: green if its rate is more than 10% below the average, red if it is more than 10% above, and amber in between. The same method is used in every region.
Not directly. Each region counts and categorises crime under its own rules, covers a different time period, and uses local areas of very different sizes.
That is why every area is compared only with the average for its own region. A rating tells you how an area compares with the rest of that region, not with areas elsewhere.
No. A rating describes crimes recorded in the past relative to the number of residents. It is not a prediction, and it does not say how likely any one person is to be affected.
Rates are per resident, so places with few residents and many visitors, such as city centres, shopping districts and transport hubs, often show high rates. A small number of incidents in an area with a small population can also push a rate well above the average.
The CrimeStats Widget lets you embed our crime search tool directly on your own website, so visitors can look up local crime rates for an address without ever leaving your site.
It is aimed at security companies, letting agents, property platforms and other organisations who want to:
- Increase engagement by giving visitors a genuinely useful reason to interact with your site.
- Generate sales leads from visitors who are actively researching crime rates, a strong signal of buying intent for security services.
- Become an intelligence led organisation, backed by the same official data that powers crime-stats.co.uk.
The widget is available for your site. For more information, pricing or to get set up, email [email protected].
- Local area
- Garda District (the area served by a Garda station)
- Published by
- Central Statistics Office (CSO)
- Period
- Calendar year, with a five-year trend
- Compared with
- The average for the Republic of Ireland
Your results are for your Garda District: the area served by your local Garda station. These are the official policing areas used by An Garda Síochána, and the most local level at which the CSO publishes crime figures. There are more than 560 of them.
We use boundaries from the Garda Mapping Unit to match your address to its district, so your figures are as local as the published data allows.
Crimes are logged by Gardaí on PULSE, the Garda incident recording system. The Central Statistics Office then compiles those records into official recorded crime statistics. We build directly on the published figures and do not alter them.
Central Statistics Office (CSO)
Recorded crime figures for every Garda station, by offence group and calendar year.
Garda Mapping Unit
Official boundaries for Garda Districts, which we use to match an address to its district.
An Garda Síochána
Population figures for each Garda District, used to work out crime per 1,000 residents, plus station contact details and Garda numbers by division.
Figures are for the most recent calendar year the CSO has published. The trend chart covers the last five years.
We check for new CSO releases automatically, so a newly published year appears on the site within about a month.
Population figures for each Garda District come from An Garda Síochána. Garda Districts do not line up exactly with townlands or electoral divisions, so these are the most precise figures available for the areas the crime data is published for.
The CSO groups offences using the Irish Crime Classification System (ICCS). Grouping keeps the figures consistent and anonymous, which is why you see categories instead of individual incidents.
Open a category to see the offences it contains.
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Infanticide
- Dangerous driving leading to death
- Rape of a male or female
- Defilement of a boy or girl less than 17 years old
- Sexual offence involving mentally impaired person
- Aggravated sexual assault
- Sexual assault (not aggravated)
- Other sexual offences
- Dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm
- Driving/In charge of a vehicle while intoxicated – alcohol and/or drugs
- Dangerous/careless driving/motorway offences
- Speeding
- Endangerment with potential for serious harm or death
- Abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty
- Unseaworthy/dangerous use of a boat or ship
- False alarm/interference with aircraft or air-transport facilities
- Endangering traffic offences
- Robbery of an establishment or institution
- Robbery of cash or goods in transit
- Robbery from the person
- Blackmail or extortion
- Carjacking, hijacking/unlawful seizure of an aircraft/vessel
- Theft/taking of vehicle and related offences
- Theft from person
- Theft from shop
- Other thefts, handling stolen property
- Fraud, deception, false-pretence offences
- Forging an instrument to defraud
- Possession of an article for use in fraud, deception or extortion
- Falsification of accounts
- Offences under the Companies Act
- Money laundering
- Embezzlement
- Fraud against the European Union
- Importation/sale/supply of tobacco
- Counterfeiting notes and coins
- Counterfeiting of goods
- Bad debts criminal (Debtors Ireland)
- Corruption (involving public office holder)
- Importation of drugs
- Cultivation or manufacture of drugs
- Possession of drugs for sale or supply
- Possession of drugs for personal use
- Other drug offences
- Forged or altered prescription offences
- Obstruction under the Drugs Act
- Explosives, chemical weapons offences
- Discharging a firearm
- Possession of a firearm
- Offensive weapons offences
- Fireworks offences
- Arson
- Criminal damage (not arson)
- Litter offences
- Disorderly conduct
- Trespass offences
- Liquor licensing offences
- Prostitution offences
- Regulated betting/money, collection/trading offences
- Other social code offences
- Driving licence - failure to have, produce, etc.
- Insurance - failure to have, produce, display, etc.
- Vehicle tax/registration offences
- Roadworthiness/regulatory offences
- Obstruction under Road Traffic Acts
- Other road offences
- Road transport - carriage of goods offences
- Public service vehicle offences
- Light rail offences (Luas)
Your results name your local Garda station and its phone number, along with the number of Gardaí in the wider Garda Division, the larger command area your district belongs to.
- Local area
- District Electoral Area (DEA)
- Published by
- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
- Period
- Financial year (April to March), with a long-run trend
- Compared with
- The average for Northern Ireland
Your results are for your District Electoral Area (DEA). Northern Ireland's 11 council districts are divided into 80 DEAs, which are also the areas used to elect local councillors.
NISRA publishes police recorded crime for every DEA using one consistent set of categories and a long run of years, which makes it a reliable basis for local comparisons.
Crimes are recorded by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and published by NISRA as police recorded crime statistics. We build directly on the published figures and do not alter them.
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
Police recorded crime figures for every District Electoral Area, by crime category and financial year.
NISRA Geography
Official boundaries and mid-year population estimates for District Electoral Areas.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Policing district and station contact details.
Figures are for the most recent financial year NISRA has published. A financial year runs from April to March, so 2024/25 means April 2024 to March 2025. The trend chart covers every year NISRA has published, which goes back more than 20 years.
We check for new NISRA releases automatically, so a newly published year appears on the site within about a month.
We use NISRA's mid-year population estimates, which are published directly for District Electoral Areas.
Northern Ireland uses the Home Office Counting Rules, the same framework police forces in England and Wales record crime under.
Burglary appears under two pairs of headings because the definition changed in 2017/18. From then on it is split into Residential and Business & Community. Earlier years use Domestic and Non-Domestic. Only one pair has figures for any given year.
Open a category to see the offences it contains.
- Attempted murder
- Intentional destruction of viable unborn child
- Causing or allowing death of a child or vulnerable person
- Assault with intent to cause serious harm
- Endangering life
- Assault with injury
- Assault with injury on a constable
- Assault with injury on an emergency worker (other than a constable)
- Conspiracy to murder
- Threats to kill
- Cruelty to children/young persons
- Child abduction
- Procuring illegal abortion
- Kidnapping
- Assault without injury on a constable
- Assault without injury
- Modern slavery
- Harassment
- Stalking
- Malicious communications
- Controlling or coercive behaviour
- Rape
- Sexual assault on a male aged 13 and over
- Sexual assault on a male child under 13
- Sexual assault on a female aged 13 and over
- Sexual assault on a female child under 13
- Sexual activity involving a child under 13
- Causing sexual activity without consent
- Sexual activity involving a child under 16
- Incest or familial sexual offences
- Abduction of a female
- Sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder
- Abuse of children through sexual exploitation
- Abuse of position of trust of a sexual nature
- Gross indecency with a child
- Sexual grooming
- Other miscellaneous sexual offences
- Unnatural sexual offences
- Exposure and voyeurism
- Robbery of business property
- Robbery of personal property
- Burglary - Residential
- Attempted burglary - Residential
- Aggravated burglary - Residential
- Burglary - Business & Community
- Attempted burglary - Business & Community
- Aggravated burglary - Business & Community
- Burglary in a dwelling
- Attempted burglary in a dwelling
- Aggravated burglary in a dwelling
- Burglary in a building other than a dwelling
- Attempted burglary in a building other than a dwelling
- Aggravated burglary in a building other than a dwelling
- Aggravated vehicle taking
- Theft from a vehicle
- Theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicle
- Interfering with a motor vehicle
- Theft from the person
- Theft or unauthorised taking of a pedal cycle
- Shoplifting
- Blackmail
- Theft in a dwelling other than from automatic machine or meter
- Theft by an employee
- Theft of mail
- Dishonest use of electricity
- Theft from automatic machine or meter
- Other theft
- Making off without payment
- Arson endangering life
- Arson not endangering life
- Criminal damage - Residential
- Criminal damage to a building - Business and Community
- Criminal damage to a vehicle
- Other criminal damage
- Trafficking in controlled drugs
- Possession of controlled drugs (historic, to 2003/04 only)
- Other drug offences
- Possession of controlled drugs (excluding cannabis)
- Possession of controlled drugs (cannabis)
- Possession of firearms with intent
- Possession of firearms offences
- Possession of other weapons
- Possession of article with blade or point
- Other firearms offences
- Violent disorder
- Other offences against the State and public order
- Concealing an infant close to birth
- Exploitation of prostitution
- Bigamy
- Soliciting for the purpose of prostitution
- Going equipped for stealing, etc
- Possession of items for use in fraud
- Profiting from or concealing knowledge of the proceeds of crime
- Handling stolen goods
- Threat or possession with intent to commit criminal damage
- Forgery or use of false drug prescription
- Other forgery
- Possession of false documents
- Perjury
- Offender Management Act
- Aiding suicide
- Perverting the course of justice
- Absconding from lawful custody
- Bail offences
- Obscene publications, etc. and protected sexual material
- Disclosure, obstruction, false or misleading statements etc
- Other offences
- Dangerous driving
- Fraud, forgery etc associated with vehicle or driver records
Your results name the PSNI policing district your area belongs to and list its police stations with their contact details.
- Local area
- Census area (Lower layer Super Output Area, or LSOA)
- Published by
- Police forces, through police.uk
- Period
- The latest 12 months each police force has published
- Compared with
- The average for England and Wales
Your results are for the small census area your address falls in, officially a Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA). England and Wales are divided into about 35,000 of them. Each one holds roughly 1,000 to 3,000 residents, so it is about the size of a few streets or a small village.
Because they all hold a similar number of people, they are a fair way to compare crime between towns, cities and the countryside.
Their official names, such as "Telford and Wrekin 013A", are reference codes and not local place names. Your results lead with a recognisable place name and draw the area's boundary on a map, so you can see exactly what is covered.
The police forces of England and Wales publish street-level crime and anti-social behaviour data every month through police.uk. We count the incidents police.uk places in each census area. We build directly on the published figures and do not alter them.
police.uk
Street-level crime and anti-social behaviour data published each month by the police forces of England and Wales, plus each force's details and neighbourhood policing teams.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) boundaries
Boundaries of the 2021 census areas (Lower layer Super Output Areas), which we use to match an address to its area.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates
Mid-year population estimates for each census area, used to work out crime per 1,000 residents.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right.
Each area is rated on the latest 12 months its police force has published. Most forces publish on the same schedule, but a few run behind, so their 12 months end earlier. Your results show the exact months under "Time frame".
The trend compares up to three 12-month periods. We refresh the England and Wales figures every quarter.
We use the Office for National Statistics' mid-year population estimates, which are published for every census area.
We use the 14 categories police.uk publishes. One of them, anti-social behaviour, is made up of incidents and not crimes. It is included in the overall figure, which is why totals for England and Wales are labelled "Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour".
Open a category to see what it covers.
- Theft of a pedal cycle
- Taking a pedal cycle without consent
- Entering a home with the intention of stealing (residential burglary)
- Entering another building, such as a business or community building, with the intention of stealing
- Attempted and aggravated burglary
- Damage to buildings
- Damage to vehicles
- Other criminal damage
- Arson (deliberate damage by fire)
- Possession of controlled drugs
- Supply of controlled drugs
- Production of controlled drugs
- Theft by an employee
- Blackmail
- Making off without payment
- Other theft not covered by another category
- Possession of a firearm
- Possession of a knife or other bladed or pointed article
- Possession of another offensive weapon
- Offences which cause fear, alarm or distress
- Using force or the threat of force to steal, from a person or a business
- Theft from shops or stalls
- Theft directly from the victim (e.g. a handbag, wallet, cash or mobile phone) without the use or threat of physical force
- Theft of a vehicle
- Theft from a vehicle
- Interfering with a vehicle
- Common assault
- Grievous bodily harm and other assaults causing injury
- Other offences against the person
- Sexual offences
- Forgery
- Perjury
- Other miscellaneous crime
They are approximate. To protect victims' privacy, police.uk moves each crime to the nearest of a set of anonymised map points before publishing it. A crime that happened close to a boundary can therefore be counted in the neighbouring census area.
Greater Manchester Police does not currently publish street-level data through police.uk, so we cannot rate areas it covers. A search there still shows the area on the map and its details, without a rating.
Your results name the police force that covers your area and its neighbourhood policing team, with a link to the force's website. To contact the police, call 101 for non-emergencies and 999 in an emergency.
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