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Crime

Crime in Tower Hamlets by area

Every neighbourhood we cover, ranked by crimes per 1,000 residents a year, from police.uk figures for June to August 2026. Highest first. Pick a type of crime to re-rank, or tap a column to sort.

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12,688crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+9%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Cubitt Townlowest rate102.8 per 1,000 a year
164.2middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

Darker means more crime per resident. Tap an area for its page.

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Most improved: Cubitt Town (-12%), Isle of Dogs (-6%) and Blackwall (-5%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1SpitalfieldsE1 · 33,514 residents 389.6▲ 4%violence
2WhitechapelE1 · 45,821 residents 272.2▲ 2%violence
3BlackwallE14 · 22,393 residents 232.6▼ 5%violence
4St. George in the EastE1 · 44,384 residents 213.7▲ 5%violence
5PoplarE14 · 39,830 residents 204.3▲ 4%violence
6Canary WharfE14 · 39,975 residents 182.9▼ 1%violence
7Mile EndE3 · 51,240 residents 178.1▲ 24%shoplifting
8Bethnal GreenE2 · 45,965 residents 171.6▲ 7%anti-social behaviour
9Bromley-by-BowE3 · 45,494 residents 170.3▲ 12%anti-social behaviour
10StepneyE1 · 56,318 residents 164.2▲ 10%violence
11LimehouseE14 · 50,908 residents 161.9▲ 25%anti-social behaviour
12Old FordE3 · 33,243 residents 159.9▲ 13%violence
13BowE3 · 40,893 residents 154.9▲ 11%violence
14Isle of DogsE14 · 35,972 residents 154.5▼ 6%violence
15WappingE1W · 37,831 residents · next to the city centre 149.7▲ 8%anti-social behaviour
16ShadwellE1W · 45,142 residents 123.6▲ 3%violence
17MillwallE14 · 34,598 residents 121.6▼ 2%violence
18RatcliffeE1 · 51,178 residents 105.4▲ 3%anti-social behaviour
19Cubitt TownE14 · 26,062 residents 102.8▼ 12%violence

Change compares the last three months with the three before. A dash means too few crimes to compare fairly.

Why busy centres look worst

Crimes are counted where they happen, but residents are counted where they live. Town centres and shopping areas have lots of shops, bars and visitors and not many residents, so their rates come out high even though most people there are just passing through.

How we work it out

Each area is a circle round its middle, the same as on its MeBabber page. We count the crimes police.uk records inside the circle over the last three months and turn that into a yearly figure, then divide by the number of people who live inside the circle, from the 2021 Census. Police locations are moved slightly on purpose to protect victims, so treat small differences between neighbouring areas with a pinch of salt.

Sources: data.police.uk and the Office for National Statistics, both under the Open Government Licence. Figures update every month.

Crime in every area

Questions people ask

Which areas of Tower Hamlets have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Cubitt Town, Ratcliffe, Millwall, Shadwell and Wapping.

Which areas of Tower Hamlets have the highest crime?

Leaving aside the big shopping and industrial areas, where visitors and workers push the figures up, the highest rates over June to August 2026 were in Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Blackwall, St. George in the East and Poplar.

Is crime going up or down in Tower Hamlets?

Across Tower Hamlets, 12,688 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 9% more than the three months before.

How is crime per 1,000 residents worked out?

We count the crimes police.uk records inside each area, turn the last three months into a yearly figure, and divide by the number of people who live there from the 2021 Census.