FAQ
Common questions about Police Map UK and the data we display.
Crime locations are anonymised to protect victims. Each crime is mapped to the nearest "snap point" (typically a road intersection), not the exact address. The data itself comes from official police records submitted by all forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The data.police.uk API is updated monthly, but there is typically a two-month delay. For example, data for January is usually published by the end of March.
All 43 police forces in England and Wales are covered, plus the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Scotland is not included as Police Scotland does not publish data through the data.police.uk API.
No. The data is historical and updated monthly with a two-month lag. It should not be used as a real-time crime feed or for personal safety decisions.
No. We do not use tracking cookies or collect personal information. Our analytics are privacy-focused and only count page views. See our privacy policy for details.
Yes. All data shown on Police Map UK is Crown Copyright and available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, which permits free use with attribution. You can also access the raw data directly from data.police.uk.
Some forces may have gaps in their data for certain months, or certain types of data (like stop and search) may not be available for all forces. The completeness of data depends on what each force submits.
Crime categories are defined by the Home Office and include types such as anti-social behaviour, burglary, robbery, vehicle crime, violent crime, and more. Each category is displayed with a distinct icon on the map.
Absolutely. Visit our contact page to get in touch with feedback, feature requests, or bug reports.
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