New data has revealed the streets in St Albans, Harpenden and Hemel Hempstead with the most crime.
According to figures collected by CrimeRate between July 2020 and June 2023, Breakspear Way in Hemel Hempstead saw 216 offences, followed by 134 in Watling Street in St Albans.
Another St Albans street, Hatfield Road, has 122 recorded crimes, while Church Green in Harpenden had 101, with 90 of those being shoplifting offences.
Stoney Croft in Hemel Hempstead also had a high number of shoplifting offences with 84, and Stonecross in St Albans recorded the highest number of violent and sexual offences with 45.
Breakspear Way – Hemel Hempstead
- Burglary – 2
- Criminal damage and arson – 3
- Drugs – 4
- Other crime – 1
- Other theft – 68
- Possession of weapon – 2
- Public order – 4
- Shoplifting – 77
- Theft from a person – 1
- Vehicle crime – 24
- Violent and sexual offences – 10
- Total – 216
Watling Street – St Albans
- Criminal damage and arson – 1
- Other crime – 1
- Other theft – 90
- Public order – 5
- Shoplifting – 36
- Violent and sexual offences – 1
- Total – 134
Hatfield Road – St Albans
- Bicycle theft – 3
- Other theft – 79
- Public order – 1
- Robbery - 1
- Shoplifting – 25
- Theft from a person – 2
- Violent and sexual offences – 11
- Total – 122
Church Green - Harpenden
- Bicycle theft – 3
- Burglary – 1
- Other theft – 2
- Shoplifting – 90
- Theft from a person – 3
- Violent and sexual offences – 2
- Total – 101
Stonecross – St Albans
- Bicycle theft – 4
- Burglary – 5
- Criminal damage and arson – 8
- Drugs – 7
- Other crime – 1
- Other theft – 7
- Public order – 10
- Shoplifting – 3
- Theft from a person – 7
- Vehicle crime - 2
- Violent and sexual offences – 45
- Total – 99
Stoney Croft – Hemel Hempstead
- Other crime – 1
- Other theft – 1
- Public order – 1
- Shoplifting – 84
- Violent and sexual offences – 5
- Total – 92
St Albans Central was the neighbourhood with the highest crime rate at 162.8 crimes per 1,000 people.
As for the areas themselves, St Albans had 56.68 crimes per 1,000 people, while Harpenden had 42.54 and Hemel Hempstead 67.39.
"Every crime report is reviewed to see what opportunities there are to investigate, make arrests and ultimately hold criminals to account for their actions," said a spokesperson for Herts police.
"A large number of violent and sexual crimes relate to parties known to each other rather than attacks on strangers. We offer support to all victims but will also look to put measures in place to protect people at risk of domestic or other kinds of abuse.
"While not all anti-social behaviour reports meet the threshold of a crime, our neighbourhood teams work with partners to tackle the issues causing the most public concern and prevent them from happening again.
"For free advice on how to protect yourself and your property from crime, go to www.herts.police.uk and search 'crime prevention advice'."
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