Crime in East Cowes
Recorded crime in East Cowes is 0.8 times the Isle of Wight average and 0.7 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 5%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
Within 1.5 km of the centre of East Cowes: about 16,417 residents in 13 neighbourhoods.
- Safety in the UK
- 6/10Average crime
- Living
- 5.9/10Fair
- 5-year change
- −5%fewer crimes
- vs the council
- 0.8×the Isle of Wight average
Neighbourhoods by Safety
Within 1.5 km of the centre of East Cowes.
Crime over 5 years
Down 5% in 5 years Recorded crimes within 1.5 km of East Cowes, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 0.8× the Isle of Wight average (0.7× the England and Wales average). 55 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 78% of the harm here
- Burglary: 7% of the harm here
- Other theft: 3% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 78% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.
Anti-social behaviour: 9.6 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
Crimes recorded in Isle of Wight (the whole council area)
April 2025 to March 2026, for the whole Isle of Wight council area, not only East Cowes. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 86 | 0.61 | Up 15% |
| Cars broken into | 65 | 0.46 | Down 8% |
| Vandalism (homes, other buildings and vehicles) | 606 | 4.3 | Down 8% |
| Burglary of homes | 127 | 0.90 | Up 4% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 1 | - | - |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare.
How often crimes lead to a charge in PO32
In PO32, the postcode district at the centre of East Cowes, 10% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).
- Charged or summonsed
- Caution or other action
- Suspect found, not prosecuted
- No suspect identified
- Still open
Show as a table
| Type | Crimes | Charged or summonsed | Caution or other action | Suspect found, not prosecuted | No suspect identified | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 321 | 7% | 7% | 69% | 11% | 6% |
| Public order | 66 | 6% | 6% | 53% | 33% | 2% |
| Shoplifting | 60 | 37% | 17% | 12% | 33% | 2% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 5% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
Isle of Wight, 2023 to 2025: 232 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 68 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 13 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
1.6 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 29% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Crime by type
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.
| Type | Per 1,000 a year |
|---|---|
| Robbery | 0.2 |
| Burglary | 1.7 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 28.7 |
| Drugs | 1.7 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 0.6 |
| Other crime | 1.1 |
| Other theft | 3.7 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.3 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 1.2 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 6.4 |
| Public order | 6.2 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.4 |
| Shoplifting | 2.5 |
Postcode districts in East Cowes
Nearby towns
Council: Isle of Wight
Embed this on your site: a free live safety card for East Cowes.
Questions about crime in East Cowes
- Is East Cowes a safe place to live?
- East Cowes scores 6 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 0.8 times the Isle of Wight average.
- Is crime going up or down in East Cowes?
- Down 5% over 5 years, from 1,006 recorded crimes a year to 957.
- What is the most common crime in East Cowes?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 29 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How does crime in East Cowes compare with Isle of Wight?
- Crime severity in East Cowes is 0.8 times the Isle of Wight average.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in East Cowes?
- In PO32, the postcode district at the centre of East Cowes, 10% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 25% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many cars are stolen in East Cowes?
- In Isle of Wight, the council area East Cowes is in, the police recorded 86 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 0.6 per 1,000 residents, up 15% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in East Cowes?
- 606 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in 2025/26, in Isle of Wight, the council area East Cowes is in, 4.3 per 1,000 residents, 0.9 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in East Cowes last year?
- 1 homicide (murder or manslaughter) was recorded in 2025/26, in Isle of Wight, the council area East Cowes is in, against 0 the year before. Police data does not say where in the area they happened.