Anerley is less safe than the rest of its borough, and by a clear margin. Crime runs at nearly half as much again as the Bromley average. Violence and sexual offences take a smaller share than usual. Anti-social behaviour and car crime take noticeably more. Being in Bromley helps Anerley's reputation and does nothing for its crime figures.
The Metropolitan Police recorded 4,404 crimes in and around Anerley in the year from June 2025 to May 2026, a published rate of about 129 per 1,000 residents. That is roughly 45% above the average for the London Borough of Bromley. The rate is published per resident for the police's statistical areas, so the count and the rate do not divide neatly into each other. Both are the force's own published figures.
To put both numbers side by side, Bromley as a whole ran at about 89 crimes per 1,000 residents over the same year, against Anerley's 129. Most of Bromley is spacious, suburban and spread out, while Anerley is its most built-up corner, closest to Crystal Palace and Penge, so the borough average and Anerley's own rate describe very different kinds of place.
The area is dense, at about 10,600 people per square kilometre on average across its neighbourhoods. At the 2021 Census about 5% of residents were unemployed and about 9% of households were overcrowded. These describe the kind of place Anerley is, a packed corner of south-east London full of flats, high-street shops and stations, and they are not an explanation for any particular crime.
The crime mix is more useful than the total. Violence and sexual offences make up 24% of Anerley's recorded crime, against 35% across England and Wales, so the category that makes most places sound alarming is smaller here than usual. Anti-social behaviour makes up 22% against 16% nationally. Vehicle crime makes up 10% against 5%, twice the usual share. Shoplifting is close to the national pattern at 10% against 8%, as are other theft at 6% against 7% and public order offences at 6% against 7%. Anerley's problems lean towards things done to parked cars and nuisance in public places, more than things done to people. The police.uk street map shows where incidents cluster month by month, and a few months of it around the streets you are looking at will tell you more than any borough average.
Reporting a crime here leads to a charge less often than the national average. Across its whole area, the Metropolitan Police Service charged a suspect in about 10% of cases in the year to May 2026, against about 12% nationally, which ranks it 33rd of 42 forces. In about 53% of its cases nobody was identified at all. That is the force's record across London, with nothing in it specific to Anerley, and it tells you what happens after a crime, not how likely one is.
Anerley's safety record is poor. Crime is clearly above the Bromley average, and most of what pushes it up is car crime and anti-social behaviour rather than violence.