Northamptonshire Crime Guide: Statistics, Trends & Prevention

Whether you’re planning to move to Northamptonshire or already live here, keeping up to date with local crime rates is vital.

Not only will they give you an understanding of your local area, but they can help you prepare yourself and your home for any eventuality.

Join us as we give a comprehensive guide to crime rates, current trends, and prevention schemes being put in place in Northamptonshire. We’ll also take a look at whether crime rates in the county will be expected to rise or fall in the coming years.

Northamptonshire crime overview

Northamptonshire has an average crime rate of 40.1 crimes per 1000 people. While this isn’t comparable to the most dangerous areas in the UK, it still falls above the national average of 35 crimes per 1000 people. When measured on a county-by-county level, Northamptonshire has the 18th highest crime rate in the UK.

Despite having the undesirable tag of falling within the top 20 highest crime rates in the country, Northamptonshire’s crime levels have fallen over the last half-decade. However, this has partially been attributed to the effects of the pandemic, with experts predicting the number to rise again over the next five years.

The most common crimes reported in the county are:

1. Violent crime
2. Anti-social behaviour
3. Shoplifting
4. Criminal damage
5. Other theft

Let’s take a closer look at how these crimes are spread out.

Most common crimes in Northamptonshire

Violent crime

As previously mentioned, violent crime is the most common crime reported in Northamptonshire, accounting for 37.4% of crimes in the county. It covers a fairly broad spectrum of offences, including:

• Assault
• Robbery
• Domestic violence
• Sexual assault
• Murder

While the 37.4% statistic may be 114% of the national average, violent crime has decreased by 5.1% since December 2023. Nevertheless, Northamptonshire has the 18th highest violent crime rate amongst UK counties.

Anti-social behaviour

While violent crime may be experiencing a downturn, anti-social behaviour is on the rise, with 12.1% more cases being reported over the previous year. It currently makes up 17.3% of crimes in Northamptonshire, which is the 13th highest total in the UK at 117% of the national average.

Examples of anti-social behaviour are:

• Verbal abuse
• Intimidation/threats
• Excessive noise
• Fly tipping
• Graffiti/damage to the local environment

Northamptonshire’s rising anti-social behaviour rate doesn’t exactly correlate with the rest of the UK, as national rates were down by 7% in 2024.

Shoplifting

As the cost of living has continued to rise in the UK, shoplifting rates rose in 2024, with Northamptonshire proving no exception. The rate increased by a substantial 21.6% in the county over the past year, a number only exceeded by drug-related offences.

Despite this worrying rise, shoplifting rates in Northamptonshire still fell below the national increase of 29% in 2024 compared with 2023.

Related: What's the Best Burglar Deterrent?

Criminal damage

Criminal damage offences, which include arson, made up 7.1% of crimes reported in Northamptonshire in 2024. This signalled a 6% decrease from the previous year, with Northamptonshire dropping into the bottom half of UK counties for criminal damage offences reported.

The decrease in criminal damage cases has been a recurring theme on a national level over the last 20 years. Cases have more than halved, going from 1.2 million in 2003/04 to just under 500,000 in 2023/24.

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Other crimes reported in Northamptonshire

As mentioned earlier, drug-related crimes experienced a sharp upturn over the previous year, experiencing a 37.4% increase. This is the largest increase in a singular type of crime by a substantial margin, with Northamptonshire having the third highest rate in the country.

This isn’t helped by Northamptonshire’s geographical positioning, resting in the gap between London and the major northern cities. Drug-related crimes aren’t just an issue in Northamptonshire and the East Midlands either, with the West Midlands also being overwhelmed.

Possession of weapons has also increased by 12.2%, despite the number of violent crimes having decreased throughout 2024. Northamptonshire had the fourth-highest rate of weapon possession crimes in the UK in 2024.

Despite these increases, individual crime rates have largely decreased in 2024. Out of the 14 categories of crime offences reported, 10 have experienced decreasing numbers.

On the surface, it seems as though crime in Northamptonshire is experiencing a downturn. Let’s take a look at the crime forecast for the years ahead.

Predicted change to crime rates in Northamptonshire

While crime rates in specific areas may be declining, there have been some worrying upward trends over the past year. The two major upshifts being shoplifting and drug-related crimes.

A dramatic increase in inflation and a stagnation of wages in many sectors have largely contributed to increased shoplifting. There is also the issue of a high median property price to median earnings ratio, making it harder for people to purchase property.

This has caused frustration amongst the younger demographics, with limited prospects often putting them at risk of falling into crime. This issue is compounded with growing populations in larger towns such as Northampton, making competition for jobs and homes increasingly difficult.

Historically, in times of economic hardship, crime rates have increased. This can be a catalyst for social unrest, as was seen throughout the UK in the summer of 2024.

While the nation and the area of Northamptonshire will be hoping for a sudden upturn in economic fortune, forecasts aren’t yet positive. This makes an increase in crime rates a strong possibility.

However, Northamptonshire Police will be hoping that some of its crime prevention initiatives will pay off, especially when it comes to violent crimes. Let’s take a look at the work of the constabulary and its priorities for the future.

Northamptonshire Police crime prevention initiatives

There are plenty of policing initiatives within the county, helping to keep the region’s many towns and villages safe. One of these initiatives is the North Northamptonshire Police Community Safety Partnership.

The initiative was first set up in 2018 to identify the issues that North Northamptonshire was facing. It is currently an ongoing process, but has produced positive results, including:

• 6.5% reduction in overall crime
• 9.7% reduction in violent crime
• 14% reduction in repeat knife crime offenders
• 42% reduction in arson

As for the next few years, Northamptonshire Police has set its stall out, with four clear priorities in mind. These are:

• A reduction in violence against women and girls
• Battle against drug harm
• Tackling serious and organised crime
• Prevent serious violence in the community

Violence against women and girls

To tackle this issue, Northamptonshire Police has formulated a Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, which includes Operation Kayak. Operation Kayak, set up in 2021 is an initiative which aims to protect women and girls from harm on weekend nights.

Since its inception, 122 arrests have been made, 34 of which have been for sexual offences.

The constabulary has also set up safe spaces to offer salvation to women and girls who are vulnerable to repeat offences from partners or family members.

Drug harm

Drug-related crime is far from a new issue, but it remains high on Northamptonshire Police’s priority list.

A major issue that the constabulary has discovered is the exploitation of children, groomed by drug gangs and made to distribute substances across county lines. To combat this, Northamptonshire Police set up Operation Voltage, to disrupt drug lines.

The constabulary believes these measures to be behind a fall in anti-social behaviour and residential burglary in recent years.

Serious and organised crime

Northamptonshire Police have been regularly targeting organised crime gangs operating within the county. The crimes committed by these gangs include money laundering, human trafficking and modern slavery, child exploitation and cybercrime.

Serious violence

With violent crime being the most common offence within Northamptonshire, measures have had to be taken to curb the trend. This has included:

• Knife amnesties - almost 1300 knives were recovered in a three-month spell in December 2022
• Beat Bus initiative - a mobile police office travelling around the county
• Knife crime awareness campaigns
• Permanent knife bins around the county

In addition to these measures, the Northamptonshire Serious Violence Prevention Partnership was set up. This combines all public sector organisations in the county to work together to reduce violent crimes in their local areas.

Community crime prevention initiatives

As well as policing initiatives, Northamptonshire is home to many Neighbourhood Watch schemes, run by residents to keep hyper-localised areas safe. In addition to Neighbourhood Watch schemes, Northamptonshire residents have set up Pubwatch and Street Watch schemes to keep a further eye out for local crime.

Most dangerous areas in Northamptonshire

As expected, it is the larger, more populated settlements which tend to experience the highest crime rates. This is the case with Northamptonshire, despite it being one of few counties in England not to have a city.

Northampton

The most dangerous area of Northamptonshire is its county town, Northampton. Despite still being classed as a town, Northampton is one of the largest settlements in the UK yet to gain city status. This contributes to its crime rate of 112.3 crimes per 1000 people, considerably above the national average of 84.

Violent crime and antisocial behaviour make up 54.9% of crimes committed in Northampton at 37.3% and 17.6% respectively. While violent crime is down by 4.8% over the past year, antisocial behaviour has experienced an upward trajectory, increasing by 13.2%.

Kettering

Kettering’s crime rate isn’t quite at the level of Northampton, but it still sits over the national average, at 107.8 crimes per 1000 people. Much like Northampton, the most common crimes in Kettering are violent crimes and antisocial behaviour.

In comparison with Northamptonshire as a whole, Kettering’s crime rate leaves a lot to be desired. It is currently 50% higher than the county’s average, 26% higher than the East Midlands average and 35% higher than the UK average.

Wellingborough

While it may be Northamptonshire’s third most dangerous area, in comparison with Northampton and Kettering, Wellingborough’s crime statistics are relatively low. According to police.uk, Wellingborough averaged 218.8 reported crimes per month between December 2023 and November 2024.

This pales in comparison when you line the statistics up against Kettering’s 490.3 crimes per month and central Northampton’s 568.8 crimes per month. However, population size should be considered, with Wellingborough having the smallest number of residents of the three areas.

Safest areas in Northamptonshire

Crime rates may be high in the larger towns in the county, but there are plenty of areas with lower rates. This is partly due to Northamptonshire being a largely rural county, with plenty of smaller villages and settlements.

Daventry

As is often the case around the UK, the smaller, quieter towns tend to be the safest, with Daventry being no exception. The town, with a population of under 35,000, is regarded as the safest in the county of Northamptonshire.

Rushden

The historical town of Rushden is the second safest area of Northamptonshire, partly due to Northamptonshire Police’s Operation Renew initiative. The initiative was set up with the aim of reducing antisocial behaviour, tackling shop theft and robbery, and eradicating criminal damage.

Corby

Corby is the third safest town in Northamptonshire, boosted by the success of Operation Crooked set up by Northamptonshire Police in 2019. The initiative saw the foundation of two separate specialist burglary teams, which have kept a lid on break-ins over the last half-decade.

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