Town · Leeds

Crime rates in Harehills

Recorded crime in Harehills fell 17.9% in the year to July 2026: 2,867 offences, against 3,491 the year before. That works out at 2,867 offences, 179.3 per 1,000 residents against an England and Wales average of 91.2.

179.3 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents, year to July 2026
2,867 offences recorded in the same 12 months
-17.9% change on the previous 12 months
+97% above the England and Wales average

Of the 929 areas in England and Wales with a full year of data, Harehills has the 32nd highest recorded crime rate. That is higher than 97% of them. Within Leeds it has the 3rd highest rate of the 24.

England & Wales average, 91Harehills, 179
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents. The colours are used throughout this page: the further right, the further above the England and Wales average.

The safest and worst parts of Harehills

Neighbourhoods inside Harehills, by recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to July 2026, shaded against the England and Wales average. Names are the House of Commons Library's, which are chosen to be the ones local people use.

Neighbourhoods in Harehills by recorded crime rate
Neighbourhood Per 1,000 vs England & Wales Offences Year on year
Harehills South 200.7 more than double 1,587 -25.4%
Harehills North 158.4 above average 1,280 -6.2%

Neighbourhoods here are Middle Layer Super Output Areas of around 7,000 residents. Each figure is an average over the whole neighbourhood, and the ones holding a town centre run high wherever daily visitors outnumber residents. How the figures work explains why these areas are used rather than electoral wards.

Shared by people who know it

What locals say about Harehills

Nobody has answered for Harehills yet, so these are the views of West Yorkshire as a whole, from 1 person in the last two years.

Feeling safe

  • How safe does West Yorkshire feel, from 1 to 5?1 person rates it 2 out of 5.

Live, work or spend time in Harehills?

Answer a few quick questions about what it is really like. About a minute, anonymous, and you can skip any question.

Answers are anonymous, one per person per question, and count for two years. They describe how a place feels to the people who answered, are never mixed into the crime figures, and update on this page within a day. How local views work.

By type of offence

Recorded offences in the 12 months to July 2026, with the change on the 12 months before.

Set against the national mix of offences, drugs stands out in Harehills: it makes up about 96% more of recorded crime here than it does nationally, with robbery and possession of weapons also over-represented. In the other direction, shoplifting, anti-social behaviour, and theft from the person all make up well under their national share.

Recorded crime in Harehills by offence type
Offence Offences Per 1,000 Share Year on year
Violence and sexual offences 1,211 75.7 42.2% -6.9%
Public order 205 12.8 7.2% -30.5%
Criminal damage and arson 197 12.3 6.9% -22.4%
Anti-social behaviour 196 12.3 6.8% -10.5%
Other theft 192 12.0 6.7% +12.9%
Drugs 191 12.0 6.7% +20.1%
Vehicle crime 169 10.6 5.9% -42.9%
Burglary 152 9.5 5.3% +9.4%
Other crime 100 6.3 3.5% -9.9%
Robbery 78 4.9 2.7% +6.9%
Shoplifting 67 4.2 2.3% -82.1%
Possession of weapons 52 3.3 1.8% +2.0%
Theft from the person 35 2.2 1.2% +2.9%
Bicycle theft 22 1.4 0.8% +37.5%
All recorded crime 2,867 179.3 100% -17.9%

Home Office recorded crime, data.police.uk. Rates use ONS mid-2024 population estimates (15,988 residents). Categories are the Home Office crime types as published; they are not comparable with court or conviction figures.

What happened to those crimes

Police recorded 2,671 offences other than anti-social behaviour in Harehills in the year to July 2026. By the time this data was published, about 39% had been closed with no suspect identified and 35% closed because a prosecution was not possible or not pursued. Around 10% had led to a charge, caution or other formal action, and 17% were still open.

The widest shortfall against the national picture is for public order: 4.4% of cases here ended in a charge or other formal action, against 12.2% across England and Wales.

Police outcomes in Harehills, latest 12 months
Outcome Share Offences
Closed: no suspect identified 1,029
Closed: prosecution not possible or not pursued 942
Charge, caution or other formal action 259
Still open or no outcome published yet 441

Outcomes describe where each investigation stood when the data was published, so recent offences are naturally still open and the closed shares will edge up as cases conclude. Anti-social behaviour is left out entirely: police record no outcomes for it, and counting it would quietly flatter every percentage here. "Formal action" spans charges, summonses, cautions, penalty notices and community resolutions.

Outcomes by offence in Harehills

The share of cases ending in a charge, caution or other formal action, against the same figure for England and Wales. Offences with fewer than 30 recorded cases here are left out: a percentage of twelve cases moves several points on one decision.

Formal action rate by offence in Harehills, against England and Wales
Offence Cases Charged or dealt with England & Wales Difference
Violence and sexual offences 1,211 6.9% 10.7% -3.8 pts
Public order 205 4.4% 12.2% -7.8 pts
Criminal damage and arson 197 4.6% 8.3% -3.7 pts
Other theft 192 1.0% 2.5% -1.5 pts
Drugs 191 51.3% 55.8% -4.5 pts
Vehicle crime 169 3.0% 2.8% +0.2 pts
Burglary 152 3.3% 5.9% -2.6 pts
Other crime 100 12.0% 17.0% -5.0 pts
Robbery 78 7.7% 9.9% -2.2 pts
Shoplifting 67 17.9% 25.9% -8.0 pts
Possession of weapons 52 32.7% 34.1% -1.4 pts
Theft from the person 35 0.0% 1.2% -1.2 pts

"Charged or dealt with" counts every outcome that is a formal action: charged, summonsed, cautioned, penalty notice, community resolution. Anti-social behaviour is excluded from both columns because it carries no outcome by design. A low rate is not necessarily a failing of the force here: some offences are far harder to detect anywhere, which is why every row is shown against the national figure for the same offence rather than against the other rows.

Over time

Recorded crime in Harehills fell to a low of 2,373 offences in 2014, climbed to a peak of 3,915 in 2022, and the latest 12 months, at 2,867, sit about 27% below that peak. That works out at roughly 8 a day.

12-month average Each month
1503004506000Covid lockdown239LabLab2011201320152017201920212023Jul 2026
Offences recorded each month in Harehills, Dec 2010 to Jul 2026. The coloured strip is the party holding the office that oversees the force; each break in it is an election.
Monthly figures (188 months)
Monthly recorded crime in Harehills
MonthRecorded crimes
Jul 2026 258
Jun 2026 256
May 2026 280
Apr 2026 258
Mar 2026 199
Feb 2026 190
Jan 2026 202
Dec 2025 184
Nov 2025 238
Oct 2025 260
Sep 2025 251
Aug 2025 291
Jul 2025 316
Jun 2025 305
May 2025 292
Apr 2025 331
Mar 2025 296
Feb 2025 262
Jan 2025 241
Dec 2024 286
Nov 2024 277
Oct 2024 296
Sep 2024 293
Aug 2024 296
Jul 2024 284
Jun 2024 260
May 2024 294
Apr 2024 240
Mar 2024 243
Feb 2024 201
Jan 2024 236
Dec 2023 254
Nov 2023 227
Oct 2023 288
Sep 2023 271
Aug 2023 280
Jul 2023 282
Jun 2023 332
May 2023 312
Apr 2023 300
Mar 2023 270
Feb 2023 275
Jan 2023 305
Dec 2022 242
Nov 2022 290
Oct 2022 357
Sep 2022 346
Aug 2022 380
Jul 2022 409
Jun 2022 328
May 2022 348
Apr 2022 321
Mar 2022 315
Feb 2022 256
Jan 2022 323
Dec 2021 281
Nov 2021 283
Oct 2021 314
Sep 2021 341
Aug 2021 320
Jul 2021 356
Jun 2021 333
May 2021 291
Apr 2021 281
Mar 2021 282
Feb 2021 256
Jan 2021 220
Dec 2020 255
Nov 2020 348
Oct 2020 315
Sep 2020 309
Aug 2020 340
Jul 2020 361
Jun 2020 320
May 2020 302
Apr 2020 254
Mar 2020 259
Feb 2020 245
Jan 2020 264
Dec 2019 228
Nov 2019 271
Oct 2019 303
Sep 2019 281
Aug 2019 294
Jul 2019 377
Jun 2019 338
May 2019 319
Apr 2019 295
Mar 2019 273
Feb 2019 275
Jan 2019 284
Dec 2018 266
Nov 2018 299
Oct 2018 328
Sep 2018 282
Aug 2018 306
Jul 2018 370
Jun 2018 351
May 2018 291
Apr 2018 290
Mar 2018 260
Feb 2018 246
Jan 2018 256
Dec 2017 251
Nov 2017 286
Oct 2017 303
Sep 2017 280
Aug 2017 303
Jul 2017 280
Jun 2017 298
May 2017 285
Apr 2017 221
Mar 2017 241
Feb 2017 212
Jan 2017 203
Dec 2016 234
Nov 2016 220
Oct 2016 301
Sep 2016 269
Aug 2016 239
Jul 2016 319
Jun 2016 283
May 2016 239
Apr 2016 188
Mar 2016 204
Feb 2016 167
Jan 2016 189
Dec 2015 212
Nov 2015 198
Oct 2015 246
Sep 2015 205
Aug 2015 257
Jul 2015 276
Jun 2015 264
May 2015 196
Apr 2015 211
Mar 2015 202
Feb 2015 152
Jan 2015 162
Dec 2014 160
Nov 2014 200
Oct 2014 234
Sep 2014 193
Aug 2014 203
Jul 2014 245
Jun 2014 172
May 2014 180
Apr 2014 198
Mar 2014 228
Feb 2014 183
Jan 2014 177
Dec 2013 214
Nov 2013 193
Oct 2013 229
Sep 2013 228
Aug 2013 212
Jul 2013 216
Jun 2013 202
May 2013 203
Apr 2013 175
Mar 2013 184
Feb 2013 143
Jan 2013 201
Dec 2012 193
Nov 2012 248
Oct 2012 246
Sep 2012 262
Aug 2012 243
Jul 2012 242
Jun 2012 209
May 2012 232
Apr 2012 215
Mar 2012 245
Feb 2012 211
Jan 2012 210
Dec 2011 177
Nov 2011 214
Oct 2011 279
Sep 2011 279
Aug 2011 456
Jul 2011 342
Jun 2011 334
May 2011 284
Apr 2011 295
Mar 2011 324
Feb 2011 233
Jan 2011 244
Dec 2010 230

Download every month as CSV, including which months each force filed.

Streets and the crime map

The named streets with the most recorded offences in the year to July 2026, beside every mapped location in Harehills.

These are not the most dangerous streets. The police snap every offence to the nearest point on a fixed list of anonymised map points, so one point collects everything recorded around a cluster of addresses. A street with a station, a row of pubs or a shopping parade on it gathers the crime of everyone passing through. A point has no resident population, so there is no rate here, only a count.

Streets in Harehills with the most recorded crime
Street Relative scale Offences
On or near Back Broughton Terrace Harehills South 111
On or near Brookfield Avenue Harehills North 98
On or near Lambton Grove Harehills North 86
On or near Conway View Harehills South 66
On or near Back Dorset Road Harehills South 50
On or near Back Milan Street Harehills North 39
On or near Ashton Street Harehills South 39
On or near Back Broughton Avenue Harehills South 37
On or near Back Seaforth Terrace Harehills South 37
On or near Back Hill Top Mount Harehills North 36
On or near Back Baldovan Terrace Harehills North 35
On or near Ashton Avenue Harehills South 35

Compared with nearby areas

Area Relative scale Per 1,000 Offences
Harehills 179.3 2,867
Beeston 175.8 4,332
Barkerend 175.6 3,934
Halifax 161.9 13,318
Gipton 157.7 2,512
Castleford 151.7 6,669
Middleton 149.6 2,552
Knottingley 145.2 2,175
Holme 221.2 3,639

Against the rest of the country

In the national table, where 1st is the highest recorded crime rate, Harehills was 34th of 706 in December 2010 and is 32nd of 929 today.

1st23246469692920102026rank
Position in the national table of every area at this level, each month. First place is the highest recorded crime rate, so the line is drawn with first at the top: a line that climbs is a place moving up the table, not down it. A place can move without changing at all, because the rank is relative to everywhere else.

Time of year

Recorded crime here peaks in July, about 41% above its quietest month, February.

avgJFMAMJJASOND
Each calendar month against this area's own average month, across every complete year of data. Indexed rather than counted, so a long-term fall does not flatten the shape of the year underneath it.

Crime in context

What deprivation would predict

Across every English district, deprivation explains much of the difference in recorded crime rates. On that relationship alone, Harehills's level of deprivation would predict a rate of about 212 per 1,000. It records 179.3, about 16% below it.

How tightly packed it is

16,202 people per square kilometre, across 1 km². England and Wales averages about 400 people per square kilometre. Density is the usual explanation for a high position in the national crime table: a rate divides the crime of everyone who passes through by the number who sleep there.

Officers to record it

West Yorkshire Police had 6,198 full-time equivalent officers as at 31 March 2026, 2.55 per 1,000 residents, about the England and Wales figure. That is 38% above its low point of 4,501 in 2016. Recorded crime partly measures how much policing there is to record it, so a change in officer numbers moves the figures on this page even when nothing else does.

Officer numbers are full-time equivalents from the Home Office police workforce return, counted across the whole force area. Nothing in this section causes anything on this page: a correlation is not a cause.

Who oversees policing in Harehills

Policing in Harehills is overseen by the Mayor of West Yorkshire, who holds the police and crime commissioner's powers here. Tracy Brabin (Labour Co-op) won that election in May 2024. Since that election, recorded crime here is down 8.9% (the latest 12 months of data against the 12 months up to the election).

Councils in England and Wales have no policing powers. The police force covering an area is answerable to a directly elected commissioner, or to the combined authority mayor where that office has taken the role on. The coloured strip under the trend chart shows these terms against the crime line.

The change column reports what recorded crime did across each term, because it is the first thing a reader wants from this table. It is what happened, not what the officeholder caused: recorded crime moves with reporting rules, how a force records what is reported, national policy and a pandemic, and those effects are far larger than anything one commissioner does in four years. The terms spanning 2020 and 2021 in particular contain the lockdowns, which cut recorded crime everywhere and handed the following term the rebound.

Elections to the office overseeing policing in Harehills
Election Elected Party Office Crime over the term
May 2024 Tracy Brabin Labour Co-op Mayor of West Yorkshire -8.9%
May 2021 Tracy Brabin Labour Co-op Mayor of West Yorkshire -12.0%
May 2016 Mark Burns-Williamson Labour Police and Crime Commissioner +35.3%
November 2012 Mark Burns-Williamson Labour Police and Crime Commissioner -3.5%

These are election results, not terms of office: commissioners resign, die and are disqualified mid-term, and by-elections between the scheduled polls are listed here only where one has been held. For who holds the office today, the force's own website is the authority. The last column compares recorded crime in the 12 months ending at the handover (or the latest data) with the 12 months ending at the election itself; where a monthly return is missing, the window slides by up to four months to the nearest complete one. A dash means the term ran under a year or no complete window exists near it.

Questions

Is Harehills safe?

In the year to July 2026, the recorded crime rate in Harehills was 179.3 per 1,000 residents. That is 97% higher than the England and Wales average. A recorded crime rate measures what the police recorded, across a whole town. It says nothing about any particular street, and areas with busy town centres, shopping areas or nightlife record more crime per resident because far more people are present than live there.

Is crime in Harehills going up or down?

In Harehills, the latest 12 months are 17.9% lower than the 12 before. Over the full series, recorded crime here peaked at 3,915 offences in 2022 and the current total is about 27% below it.

What is the most common crime in Harehills?

The most commonly recorded offence in Harehills is violence and sexual offences, with 1,211 offences in the 12 months to July 2026 (42% of all recorded crime). The next most common is public order, with 205.

Where does this come from?

Police recorded crime open data, published at data.police.uk by the Home Office under the Open Government Licence. It covers offences the police recorded, which is not the same as offences committed: crimes that are never reported never appear. Rates use ONS mid-2024 population estimates. How the figures work sets out the calculation, the reporting lag and every known gap.

Figures cover the 12 months to July 2026, the most recent month any force has published; police data arrives roughly two months in arrears.