Deptford is less safe than the rest of Lewisham, and the gap is big enough to matter. About 140 crimes are recorded for every 1,000 people. Violence is a smaller share of that than in most of the country. Theft from people in the street is a much bigger one. The overall rate sounds worse than the level of violence behind it.
The Metropolitan Police recorded 7,465 crimes in Deptford in the year to May 2026, a published rate of about 140 per 1,000 residents. That is roughly 16% above the average for Lewisham as a whole.
Lewisham's own published rate for the same year is about 122 crimes per 1,000 residents, against Deptford's 140. Deptford isn't an outlier in a calm borough. It is the busier end of a borough that already sees plenty of crime.
Deptford is also very densely populated, at about 20,300 people per square kilometre. About 5% of working-age residents were unemployed at the 2021 Census, and about 14% of households were overcrowded. Those figures describe the neighbourhood, and they don't explain what any one person does. The area has history here too. In 1497 Cornish rebels marched on London and were beaten at Deptford Bridge by Henry VII's army. That was a protest about tax, so people here have long been willing to take a fight to the authorities.
The crime mix is more reassuring than the total. Violence and sexual offences, a broad legal category that includes common assault without injury, make up about 25% of Deptford's recorded crime, against about 35% across England and Wales. Anti-social behaviour is about 20% here, against 16% nationally. Shoplifting is about 10%, against 8%. Other theft is about 8%, close to the national 7%. Public order offences are about 6%, against 7%. The outlier is theft from the person, at about 7% of local crime against 2% nationally. The Metropolitan Police publish a street-level crime map. Look at a year of entries around the exact building you're considering, because a block beside the high street and one tucked behind the park can have quite different records.
On what happens after a report, the Metropolitan Police charges a suspect in about 10% of cases, against about 12% nationally, and ranks 33rd of 42 forces on that measure. About 53% of its cases close without a suspect being identified. Those are figures for the whole force across London, so they say nothing about Deptford's streets in particular. They do tell you what to expect after reporting a snatched bag. About half the time, the case ends without anyone being identified.
Deptford rates below average on safety. Serious violence is a smaller share than the national pattern, but there is more crime overall, and more of it is opportunistic street theft.