Watford Central logged 83 shoplifting crimes in July, the most in a year. Police keep it a priority and add the Secret Garden and Vicarage Road cemetery.
Shoplifting in Watford town centre reached 83 recorded crimes in July, the highest monthly figure in a year. Hertfordshire Police has kept retail crime at the top of its list for the town centre for the coming months.
The force’s three Watford neighbourhood teams have set their local policing priorities. The teams reset them every four months, using crime data and a public survey. The new lists were published on 22 September.
Two of the three teams have kept last round’s priorities. The third, Watford Outer, has three new places to focus on.
The priorities, area by area
Watford Central will stay on:
- retail crime in the town centre
- anti-social behaviour in the High Street, including illegal e-scooter use
- street drinking and begging around the High Street
Watford North will stay on:
- drug-related anti-social behaviour, mainly in Stanborough and Meriden wards
- vehicle crime, mainly in Kingswood and Stanborough wards
- anti-social and nuisance vehicle use, including e-scooters, on industrial estates
Watford Outer has new priorities:
- anti-social behaviour and drug-related incidents in the area known as the Secret Garden, on Rickmansworth Road
- drug use around the Franklin Avenue area
- anti-social behaviour and drug use in Vicarage Road cemetery
The wording comes from each team’s own page on police.uk. The force says residents will see PCs and PCSOs working with partners through “an increased police presence, engagement events and targeted enforcement”. It has not said how many extra patrols that means.
What the crime figures show
We counted the crimes recorded inside each team’s boundary on police.uk, month by month, for August 2025 to July 2026. July is the latest month published.
Watford Central recorded 622 shoplifting crimes in those 12 months. That is more than three times as many as Watford North (178) and nearly seven times Watford Outer (90). The trend is rising:
- August 2025 to January 2026: 254 shoplifting crimes
- February to July 2026: 368, up 45%
- May, June and July 2026: 63, 74 and 83, three rises in a row
Anti-social behaviour is rising across the whole town. July was the worst month of the year in all three areas:
| Area | ASB reports, Aug 2025 | ASB reports, Jul 2026 | 12-month total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watford North | 66 | 97 | 803 |
| Watford Central | 66 | 94 | 812 |
| Watford Outer | 58 | 85 | 710 |
Across the three areas that is 276 reports in July 2026, against 190 in August 2025.
Drug offences over the 12 months were 184 in Watford Central, 150 in Watford North and 141 in Watford Outer.
Watford North recorded 265 vehicle crimes in the year, the most of the three areas.
A caution on all of these figures: police.uk moves each crime to a nearby anonymous map point, and totals can change slightly as crimes are reclassified. They are a guide to scale and trend, not an exact count.
What it means for you
If you work in a town centre shop, report every theft. The force sets these priorities partly from recorded crime, so unreported shoplifting does not count towards the picture that decides where officers go.
If you use Vicarage Road cemetery, the Secret Garden on Rickmansworth Road or live near Franklin Avenue, expect to see more of the Watford Outer team. You can report anti-social behaviour or drug dealing online to Hertfordshire Police, on 101, or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Call 999 if a crime is happening now.
The next priorities are due in about four months, early in 2027. Each team runs a survey before it sets them, published on its police.uk page.
For parking and getting around the town centre, see our guide to parking in Watford.
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