Greenwich is less safe than the rest of its own borough. Recorded crime runs about a quarter above the borough average. Violence makes up a smaller share of it than it does nationally. Theft and nuisance make up more. It is a place where things go missing more often than people get hurt, and that is still more crime than the streets around it.
The Metropolitan Police recorded 6,849 crimes in Greenwich in the year to May 2026. The published rate is about 147 crimes per 1,000 residents, roughly 25% above the average for the Royal Borough of Greenwich over the same twelve months.
The borough figure is about 118 per 1,000, so it is 147 for Greenwich against 118 for the borough as a whole. The difference comes from the riverside, not from a borough that is rough everywhere.
The neighbourhood is dense. About 21,900 people live in each square kilometre, unemployment is about 4%, and about 7% of households are overcrowded. Those figures describe what the place is like. They don't explain the crime rate, and nothing in them shows that one causes the other.
The mix of crimes is more reassuring than the total. Violence and sexual offences make up about 27% of recorded crime here, against about 35% across England and Wales, and that statutory category includes common assault where nobody was hurt. Antisocial behaviour is about 19% against 16% nationally. Shoplifting is about 11% against 8%, and other theft about 9% against 7%. Vehicle crime is about 5% here and 5% nationally. Public order offences are about 5% against 7%. The categories that run above the national share are the ones that need a till or an unattended bag, while the crime people worry about most runs well below it. Rates change from one street to the next, so look up the exact street on the police.uk crime map for the months you can see.
What happens after a report is a separate question. Over the same year, the Metropolitan Police charged a suspect in about 10% of cases, against about 12% nationally, which puts it 33rd of 42 forces. In about 53% of cases nobody was identified. Those are figures for the whole of London's force, covering what happens once a crime has been reported. They don't measure how likely a crime is in Greenwich.
Safety is one of Greenwich's weaker points. Expect to look after your bike, your bag and your patience more often than in the streets around it.