Crime Rate in Handside, ward

Handside has the 2nd highest crime rate of 16 wards in Welwyn Hatfield district and the 370th highest crime rate ward of 7,548 wards in England and Wales. Across the region (East of England), it has the 28th highest crime rate of 947 wards.

The overall crime rate in Handside in the last 12 months was 183.7 per 1,000 residents and was 79.3% higher than the Welwyn Hatfield district average (102.5 per 1,000 residents). In the last 12 months, Handside’s most reported crimes were Shoplifting with 374 offences recorded. The least common crime was Possession of weapons with 5 cases , down -37.5% compared to 2024. The fastest-growing crime category was Bicycle theft ( 56.3% YoY). The sharpest decline was Possession of weapons ( -37.5% YoY).

Violent crimes totalled 418 (≈ 59.6 per 1,000 residents). Year-over-year these were rising ( 8.9% ). Over the last decade, overall crime has falling ( -25.9% comparing early vs recent averages) .

In the Handside ward, the highest concentration of overall crime occurs near Shopping Area, with 398 recorded incidents. Violent and public-order offences happen most frequently around Supermarket (45 offences). Both locations are situated within roughly 0.3 miles of each other.