Cottenham Crime Rate September 2024 | Monthly Statistics

Cottenham's crime profile in September 2024 continues to reflect a built-up area with a lower crime rate than the UK average. At 3.5 per 1,000 residents, the area's rate is 54.5% below the national average of 7.7 per 1,000, a disparity that underscores the effectiveness of local crime prevention efforts. The breakdown of crimes reveals a pattern skewed towards violent and anti-social offences, with violence and sexual offences accounting for 41.7% of all reported crimes. This category's rate of 1.5 per 1,000 is itself 43% below the UK average, a statistic that may be partially explained by Cottenham's character as a small, closely-knit community where informal social controls often deter more severe criminal activity. Anti-social behaviour, the second most common category (29.2% of total crimes), further reinforces this dynamic, with its rate of 1.0 per 1,000 sitting 15% below the UK average. The seasonal context of September—marked by the return to school and university freshers—likely contributes to the relative prominence of violent offences, as increased social activity in the evenings may create conditions conducive to such incidents. This pattern aligns with broader UK trends where seasonal transitions, particularly the shift from summer to autumn, often correlate with fluctuations in crime rates. However, Cottenham's data suggests a more stable environment compared to larger urban centres, where violent crime tends to spike more dramatically during similar periods. The low incidence of property crimes, particularly burglary (0.2 per 1,000, 35% below UK average), further highlights the area's unique characteristics, linked to its compact nature and the absence of high-value commercial zones that might attract more property-related crime.

September 2024 saw the most dramatic month-on-month shift in violence and sexual offences, which rose by 42.9% (from 7 to 10 cases). This increase, though still below the UK average of 2.6 per 1,000, raises questions about the factors driving this upward trend in a typically low-crime area. Concurrently, drug-related crimes surged by 100% (from 0 to 1 case), an anomaly that may reflect the seasonal influx of university students or transient populations during the freshers' period. In contrast, vehicle crime fell sharply by 60.0% (from 5 to 2 cases), likely due to fewer summer-related events or reduced car usage as nights draw in. The breakdown of crime types reveals a persistent underperformance against UK averages: anti-social behaviour (1.0 per 1,000, 15% below UK average) and criminal damage (0.4 per 1,000, 29% below UK average) remain consistently lower than national rates. For residents, the most immediately relevant statistic is the 100% increase in drug-related crimes, which may warrant heightened awareness in areas frequented by transient populations.

Cottenham's crime rate in September 2024 (3.5 per 1,000) marked a 20.0% decrease from the previous month's rate of 4.4 per 1,000. This decline, though modest, positions the area as one of the safer built-up areas in South Cambridgeshire. On a daily basis, the town recorded roughly one crime per day over the 30-day period, a figure that contextualises the low overall rate against the local population of 6,881 residents. When scaled to monthly exposure, the statistic becomes even more tangible: over the course of September, one reported crime occurred for every 287 residents. This ratio, while not a daily frequency, provides a clear sense of the likelihood of encountering crime in the area. The population-scaled perspective reinforces that Cottenham's crime profile remains significantly below the UK average, with rates for violent crime and anti-social behaviour both falling well below national benchmarks. Such figures, when paired with the area's built-up character, suggest a combination of effective local policing and the natural geographic advantages of a small, tightly-knit community where informal social controls may contribute to lower crime visibility.