Buckhurst Hill is safe, and the crime it does get is aimed at the driveway. Crime runs about a third below the rest of Epping Forest. Rowdiness in the street is about half as common as it is across the country. Car crime and burglary are where the town draws more than its share. The people here are rarely the target. Their belongings are another matter.
Police.uk recorded 803 crimes in Buckhurst Hill in the year from June 2025 to May 2026, a published rate of about 49 per 1,000 residents. That is roughly 35% below the average for Epping Forest district.
In numbers, Buckhurst Hill's rate of about 49 per 1,000 compares with about 76 per 1,000 across Epping Forest as a whole. Both figures are published rates covering the same twelve months.
The low rate is not down to empty space. The town averages about 4,920 residents per square kilometre, which is packed in far more tightly than the forest on the map suggests. Unemployment is about 3% and about 3% of households are overcrowded. This is a built-up suburb with full driveways and very few people short of a job or a room.
The mix is where the town shows a pattern. Violence and sexual offences make up about 39% of recorded crime, against about 35% nationally, and that broad statutory category runs from common assault without injury upwards, so the two shares are close. Vehicle crime is about 15% here against about 5% nationally, and burglary about 8% against 4%. Anti-social behaviour goes the other way, at about 8% against about 16% across England and Wales, and criminal damage at 7% and other theft at 6% are both close to the national figures. Across the whole town, almost nobody is causing a scene, and somebody is quietly trying the car doors.
Getting a culprit into court is a separate question, and it is answered at force level. Essex Police charged a suspect in about 11% of cases over the year to May 2026, against about 12% nationally, putting it 28th of 42 forces. About 37% of its cases were closed without anyone being identified as a suspect. Those are figures for the whole of Essex, and they say how often a crime gets solved, nothing about how often one happens in Buckhurst Hill.
Safety is one of Buckhurst Hill's real strengths. Lock the car, fit a decent alarm, and the town gives very little else to worry about.