Crime in Reading

Police.uk reported crime in Reading, Reading. Category breakdown, 24-month trend, and postcode-district hot and cold spots within the town.

Incidents reported (12m)
21,015
+5.1% vs prior year
Window
Nov 2024 – Oct 2025
Police.uk reports ~2 months in arrears.
Refreshed
7 May 2026

Crime in Reading by category

Last 12 months, all 14 Police.uk categories. Bars are scaled to the largest category in Reading.

Category Incidents % of mix Volume
Violence and sexual offences 6,849 32.6%
Anti-social behaviour 2,793 13.3%
Other theft 1,944 9.3%
Criminal damage and arson 1,850 8.8%
Public order 1,841 8.8%
Vehicle crime 1,405 6.7%
Shoplifting 1,013 4.8%
Burglary 902 4.3%
Drugs 578 2.8%
Bicycle theft 507 2.4%
Other crime 492 2.3%
Robbery 331 1.6%
Theft from the person 322 1.5%
Possession of weapons 188 0.9%

Where Reading's crime mix differs from the UK

Top 5 categories where Reading's 12-month share differs most from the national average. Percentage-point delta. Positive means more concentrated in Reading than the UK as a whole.

Category Reading UK Delta
Anti-social behaviour 13.3% 16.3% -3.0 pp
Other theft 9.3% 7.8% +1.5 pp
Bicycle theft 2.4% 1.1% +1.3 pp
Drugs 2.8% 4.0% -1.3 pp
Shoplifting 4.8% 3.8% +1.1 pp

Monthly incident volume

Nov 2023 to Oct 2025. Police.uk publishes ~2 months in arrears.

2,024 1,012 0 Nov 2023 Oct 2024 Oct 2025
Monthly incident volume
MonthValue
2023-111744
2023-121694
2024-011704
2024-021591
2024-031758
2024-041774
2024-051958
2024-061923
2024-072024
2024-081917
2024-091750
2024-101905
2024-111695
2024-121548
2025-011517
2025-021475
2025-031726
2025-041745
2025-051923
2025-061871
2025-072005
2025-081891
2025-091782
2025-101837

Hottest postcode districts in Reading

  • RG1 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG10 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG2 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG30 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG31 21,015 incidents (12m)

Quietest postcode districts in Reading

  • 2,847 incidents (12m)
  • RG1 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG10 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG2 21,015 incidents (12m)
  • RG30 21,015 incidents (12m)

Postcode-district counts use the bounding box of every address in the district, so they're approximate. Treat them as a relative ranking within Reading rather than an absolute count.

What Reading crime data isn't

  • Reported, not actual. Many crimes go unreported. The data reflects what reached Police.uk, not the underlying incidence rate.
  • Locations are obfuscated. Each incident is mapped to a snap point within roughly 250 metres of the true location to protect victim privacy.
  • Force-by-force inconsistency. Different police forces classify and record borderline incidents differently. Comparing two areas covered by different forces needs care.
  • Patrol-density bias. Areas with heavier patrol presence record more incidents, partly because more crime is observed and reported.

FAQ

All incidents come from Police.uk, the official open-data feed published by UK police forces. Data is updated monthly. The figures show what was reported and recorded, not necessarily what happened.
Police.uk obfuscates each incident location to a "snap point", typically the centre of the nearest street or a similar landmark within roughly 250 metres. This protects victim privacy. The category and month are accurate; the precise address is intentionally not.
Read them as one signal among many. Anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime are quality-of-life signals. Burglary trends matter for insurance and security. Raw counts reflect both the actual incident rate and how heavily an area is patrolled and reported, so busy commercial streets always look 'worse' than quiet residential ones.
Police.uk publishes about two months in arrears. So crime for January typically appears in March or April. The 12-month window on this page ends with the most recent month available.

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