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Lewes, in numbers

Crime and safety: Lewes

Lewes local authority area. Every figure carries its own date.

What the recorded figures show, and what they cannot tell us.

Recorded crime and population

A larger population can mean more recorded offences even when the number of offences per resident falls. Read the total and the rate together.

Lewes · 2025/26 · Territorial police-recorded offences excluding fraud; British Transport Police excluded by CSP source. Source classifications retained.

Recorded offences

5,649

Offences per 1,000 residents

55.2

Population used for the rate

About 102,400

2024 mid-year population

The source rounds this population to the nearest 100. The rate shown is the official published rate.

Show the figures and workings

The rate is recorded offences divided by the population, multiplied by 1,000. Where the source rounds its population figure, we retain its published rate rather than recalculate it from that rounded figure. This counts offences, not the percentage of residents who were victims.

Checked counts and population-based rates
PeriodOffencesPopulation usedPer 1,000 residents
2025/265,649About 102,400 (2024)55.2

These figures match the source area for this period. That does not establish a comparable history for today’s council boundaries.

Official source and method →
Can we test the population theory over 30 years?

Only where the offence definitions, recording practices and area boundaries are comparable. Changes in reporting, police recording and the types of crime matter too. We do not join incompatible series or invent missing years.

Only the latest independently checked observation is displayed. A comparable long-run crime-and-population trend has not been established.

  • 2002/03: Series starts after April 2002 recording-standard introduction; not comparable to pre-2002 records.
  • 2013/14: Offence grouping revision; source back-series retained. Recording practice changes also affect comparisons.
  • 2017/18: Burglary classification changed; broad total retained but detailed groups need review.
  • 2023/24: Burglary subcategories and recording-rule changes require interpretation review.

A comparable 30-year crime-and-population trend has not been established for this area.

For example, if offences rose by 10% while population rose by 20%, offences per resident would fall by about 8%. This is an illustration, not a finding about this area.

People commuting or visiting can also affect offences recorded in a place. The resident population is a useful common denominator, but does not count everyone present.

What could help? Follow the types and locations of repeated problems, check residents’ experiences, and assess the response. Area population totals do not identify who commits offences.

Local issues and proposed responses →

Police-recorded locations for Lewes local authority area. Locations are approximate; these are not all crimes or a measure of personal risk.

Mapped crime over time

September 2024 to August 2026

Lewes local authority area · mapped crimes

Reviewed figures: September 2024 to August 2026. This reviewed record covers fewer than 30 years, so the chart opens on all of it.

Shown on this chart: 498 mapped crimes in September 2024; 517 mapped crimes in August 2026. These are recorded counts; check the coverage notes before comparing periods.

The line joins consecutive published observations.

Monthly crime and anti-social behaviour
Recorded locations by month · Lewes
MonthMapped crimeAnti-social behaviour
September 2024498105
October 202451191
November 202440592
December 202446582
January 202539458
February 202542572
March 2025507122
April 2025492125
May 2025593110
June 2025514126
July 2025534176
August 2025473148
September 2025435129
October 2025450108
November 2025444110
December 202541293
January 2026443101
February 2026426101
March 2026446156
April 2026492153
May 2026517234
June 2026552196
July 2026574218
August 2026517197
Crime categories in the latest complete year

A complete, consecutive 12-month period without an unresolved reporting break is needed before these totals can be shown.

What these numbers include

Approximate published locations, not every crime or personal risk.

Anti-social behaviour is separate. Transport police and unusable locations excluded.

An empty ward count means no mapped rows in the complete required force files; it does not prove that no crime occurred.

These are retrieved mapped records, not a guarantee of complete crime reporting. Approximate locations and unmapped incidents limit comparisons.

Publication history: Sussex Police: Crime data not provided for January 2026. The force will provide a data refresh as soon as possible. No explicit later refresh identified in the checked changelog.

Previous crime-publication gaps are not explicitly resolved in the checked changelog for 2026-01. Published rows are retained, but completeness and year-on-year changes are not established.

Missing ward-months invalidate totals and changes. Busy centres attract visitors, so residential population is not a measure of the number of people exposed.

Police data and method →

What could improve local safety →