St Michael's, Sunderland: Safety
Safety
Crime in St Michael's is dropping, and it's now tracking below the UK average for the first time in years.
In 2024, the neighbourhood had 183 crimes per 1,000 people — roughly double the UK average of 92. That fell to 167 per 1,000 in 2025, and through the first 9 months of 2026 it's running at around 77 per 1,000 compared to a UK average of around 88. That's a real change.
Hendon, the neighbouring area, still has higher crime than St Michael's, but the trend here is clearly moving in the right direction. Anti-social behaviour and violent crime — the two biggest categories — have both dropped sharply since 2024.
Source: police-recorded crime for St Michael's ward (Northumbria Police, data.police.uk), Jan 2024–Aug 2026; residents from Census 2021. This summary may predate the latest data release; the table below has the current figures.
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Crime rate comparison
Crimes per 1,000 residents, Jan–Dec 2025. St Michael's ward: Northumbria Police data via data.police.uk; residents from Census 2021. Averages are for all wards in the area over the same months. Planna's safety index uses the latest 12 months instead, so it can differ.
2024
2025
Jan–Aug 2026
St Michael's ward
Crimes/1,000 residents
175.9
Higher than
UK average (England, Wales & N. Ireland)
98.8
Higher than
North East region average
126
Neighbouring wards
Higher than
Barnes
89.4
Lower than
Hendon
217.8
Higher than
Ryhope
131.3
Lower than
Millfield
292.3
Higher than
Silksworth
111.2
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Types of Crime
Share of police-recorded crimes in St Michael's ward and the North East region average, Jan–Dec 2025.
This ward
Regional average
- Violent offences37%33%
- Anti-social behaviour13%18%
- Shoplifting8%10%
- Criminal damage and arson8%10%
- Public order7%7%
- Other theft7%5%
- Vehicle crime6%4%
- Drugs4%3%
- Burglary3%4%
- Other crime2%3%
- Robbery2%1%
- Theft from the person1%<1%
- Possession of weapons1%1%
- Bicycle theft<1%1%
