Harrow crime rate: among the four lowest in London
17,107 offences in twelve months, and a rate around 37% below the London average.
Crime figures for a borough are published monthly by the Metropolitan Police and are easy to quote badly. A raw total tells you as much about how many people live somewhere as about how safe it is, so both numbers matter.
What was recorded
Shops Cordoned Off on Preston Road
Police incident leads to cordon on South Harrow parade of shops.
In the twelve months to June 2026, Harrow recorded 5,217 offences of violence against the person, 4,215 thefts, 1,958 vehicle offences, 1,241 burglaries, 1,088 arson and criminal damage offences, 1,010 public order offences, 950 drug offences, 602 robberies, 492 sexual offences, 233 miscellaneous crimes against society and 100 weapons possession offences. The total is 17,107.
Within those groups: 854 of the burglaries were residential, 1,666 of the thefts were shoplifting, 924 were thefts from a vehicle and 803 were vehicles taken. There were 1,240 offences of violence with injury and 1,353 of stalking and harassment. There were no homicides.
How that compares
Four arrested in Harrow town centre police operation targeting violence
A machete and drugs were seized during a two-hour operation involving 20 stop and searches on 28 July 2026
Harrow’s population was estimated at 272,612 in the mid-2025 official figures. On that basis the borough recorded about 63 offences per thousand residents over the year, against a London-wide figure of about 100 — roughly 37% below the capital’s average.
That ranking is our own arithmetic rather than a published league table: the Met publishes borough counts and the statistics agency publishes populations, and the rate is what you get by dividing one by the other. We set it out that way so it can be checked.
What is not in these figures
Anti-social behaviour is not part of the recorded-crime dataset. Aggregating the police’s own street-level data for Harrow gives approximately 5,401 anti-social behaviour incidents over the same twelve months, which is an estimate and likely a few per cent low.
Recorded crime also measures what is reported and recorded, not what happens. Categories where reporting rates are known to be low — sexual offences among them — are understated in any borough’s figures, Harrow’s included.
Questions this report answers
+What is the crime rate in Harrow?
Harrow recorded 17,107 offences in the twelve months to June 2026. Against a mid-2025 population of 272,612 that is about 63 offences per thousand residents, compared with roughly 100 across London as a whole.
+Is Harrow a safe borough?
By recorded crime rate it is among the safest in London — around 29th of 32 boroughs, the fourth-lowest rate, behind only Bexley, Merton and Richmond upon Thames. There were no homicides recorded in the twelve months to June 2026.
+What is the most common crime in Harrow?
Violence against the person, at 5,217 offences in the year to June 2026, followed by theft at 4,215. Within theft, shoplifting accounted for 1,666 offences.
WE FILE
No invented reporter. No hidden source trail.
The HNL Local Desk assembled this report from the outlets listed below. Language-model drafting is reviewed under human editorial supervision, with scoring notes and corrections kept visible.
Harrow AM
The compact morning rundown, with scores and source links.
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Shops Cordoned Off on Preston Road
Four arrested in Harrow town centre police operation targeting violence
Police appeal for help finding Mohammed last seen in Harrow on 28 July
