Police force area

Recorded crime: Dorset Police

12 months to June 2026

69.9recorded offences per 1,000 residents

Police recorded 55,736 offences in the Dorset Police area in the 12 months to June 2026, down 5.3% (3,109) on the previous 12 months. That is 69.9 per 1,000 residents against 97.4 for England and Wales.

Home Office · data.police.uk
street-level crime archive
force
population: ONS mid-2025 estimate, 796,865

Since 2011

Each year to June, complete years only. Areas are today's boundaries throughout.Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

Monthly trend

Monthly recorded offences, all categories except anti-social behaviourPublished valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

Official figures for this area

Published in the official force-area tables. These are the figures to cite; archive-based numbers above are built from street-level records and may differ.

Series	Latest	A year earlier	Published
Arrests for notifiable offencesYear ending March 2025 · arrests	223	—	2026-08-19
Homicides (Homicide Index)Year ending March 2025 · offences	2	5	Year ending March 2025
Offences involving a knife or sharp instrumentYear ending March 2026 · offences	243	272	Year ending March 2026
Police officers (full-time equivalent)Year ending March 2026 · officers (FTE)	1,461	1,420	As at 31 March 2026
Police officers per 100,000 populationYear ending March 2026 · officers per 100,000 population	183	—	As at 31 March 2026
Criminal damage and arson (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	4,655	5,219	Year ending March 2026
Drug offences (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	1,420	1,265	Year ending March 2026
Possession of weapons (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	403	457	Year ending March 2026
Public order offences (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	3,146	3,937	Year ending March 2026
Police-recorded crime (excluding fraud)Year ending March 2026 · offences per 1,000 population	58.9	—	Year ending March 2026
Robbery (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	424	342	Year ending March 2026
Sexual offences (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	2,247	2,264	Year ending March 2026
Theft offences (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	15,692	17,338	Year ending March 2026
Police-recorded crime (excluding fraud)Year ending March 2026 · offences	47,076	51,123	Year ending March 2026
Violence against the person (police-recorded)Year ending March 2026 · offences	18,452	19,593	Year ending March 2026

Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

Earlier years are the publisher's own back run, joined where the periods do not overlap.Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

By category, 12 months to June 2026

Category	Offences	Previous 12 months	Change	Per 1,000	England & Wales per 1,000
Violence and sexual offences	18,401	19,606	▼ 6.1%	23.1	34.7
Anti-social behaviour (not a crime)	14,479	13,391	▲ 8.1%	18.2	15.3
Shoplifting	4,526	4,791	▼ 5.5%	5.7	8.3
Criminal damage and arson	4,044	4,657	▼ 13.2%	5.1	6.9
Other theft	3,435	4,060	▼ 15.4%	4.3	6.5
Vehicle crime	2,917	3,461	▼ 15.7%	3.7	5.0
Public order	2,644	3,414	▼ 22.6%	3.3	6.8
Burglary	2,043	2,284	▼ 10.6%	2.6	3.6
Drugs	1,174	911	▲ 28.9%	1.5	3.4
Other crime	540	609	▼ 11.3%	0.7	2.2
Bicycle theft	536	646	▼ 17.0%	0.7	0.8
Robbery	421	347	▲ 21.3%	0.5	1.4
Possession of weapons	342	355	▼ 3.7%	0.4	1.0
Theft from the person	234	313	▼ 25.2%	0.3	1.7
Public disorder and weapons	0	0	—	0.0	0.0
Violent crime	0	0	—	0.0	0.0

Local authorities in this force area

Important caveat

Police-recorded crime counts offences reported to and recorded by the police. It is affected by whether people report crime and by changes in police recording practice, so it does not measure all crime that happens. The Crime Survey for England and Wales is the better guide to long-term trends in the crimes it covers. Police recorded crime is not designated as National Statistics.

A higher recorded-crime rate does not mean an area is more dangerous. Rates depend on how much crime is reported and recorded, on the number of visitors and commuters who are not counted in the resident population, and on the policing priorities of the force. Anti-social behaviour incidents are shown separately because they are not recorded crimes.

Source

Data: data.police.uk street-level crime archive (Home Office). Offences are placed at anonymised snap points and assigned to 2021 Lower Layer Super Output Areas, which are mapped to local authorities using the ONS Open Geography lookup.
Population: ONS mid-year population estimates for England and Wales, mid-2025 edition, local authority level; force populations are the sum of their local authorities.
Geography: E23000039
Rate: offences in the 12 months ÷ resident population × 1,000, rounded to one decimal place.
Method: Methodology