Crime in Southampton

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

Incidents reported (12m)
26,025
+3.6% vs prior year
Window
Nov 2024 – Oct 2025
Police.uk reports ~2 months in arrears.
Refreshed
7 May 2026

Crime in Southampton by category

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

Category Incidents % of mix Volume
Violence and sexual offences 9,313 35.8%
Anti-social behaviour 2,810 10.8%
Public order 2,437 9.4%
Criminal damage and arson 2,134 8.2%
Other theft 1,876 7.2%
Vehicle crime 1,840 7.1%
Burglary 1,202 4.6%
Shoplifting 1,123 4.3%
Drugs 1,042 4.0%
Other crime 607 2.3%
Possession of weapons 606 2.3%
Bicycle theft 404 1.6%
Robbery 368 1.4%
Theft from the person 263 1.0%

Where Southampton's crime mix differs from the UK

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

Category Southampton UK Delta
Anti-social behaviour 10.8% 16.3% -5.5 pp
Violence and sexual offences 35.8% 31.7% +4.1 pp
Public order 9.4% 7.9% +1.5 pp
Possession of weapons 2.3% 1.2% +1.1 pp
Criminal damage and arson 8.2% 9.0% -0.8 pp

Monthly incident volume

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

2,462 1,231 0 Nov 2023 Oct 2024 Oct 2025
Monthly incident volume
MonthValue
2023-112283
2023-122159
2024-012257
2024-022180
2024-032221
2024-042055
2024-052363
2024-062415
2024-072434
2024-082462
2024-092235
2024-102343
2024-112293
2024-122105
2025-012181
2025-022045
2025-032282
2025-042178
2025-052313
2025-062223
2025-072404
2025-081487
2025-092224
2025-102290

Hottest postcode districts in Southampton

  • SO14 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO15 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO16 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO17 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO18 26,025 incidents (12m)

Quietest postcode districts in Southampton

  • 7,075 incidents (12m)
  • SO14 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO15 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO16 26,025 incidents (12m)
  • SO17 26,025 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 Southampton rather than an absolute count.

What Southampton 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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