Harlow crime rate Drugs February 2026

Jukes Estate Agents Harlow start their second in depth look at crime rates in Harlow and where it sits in the bigger picture of Essex and surrounding areas.

Jukes did their first one back in February 2025 and have decided to continue it on a 6 month basis.

Sales and Marketing Director Geoff Flewers explains: “I started these blogs about crime in Harlow because I felt that Harlow was getting a lot of flack for being a horrible nasty town. The reality is that whilst any crime is unwelcome and whilst one crime is one too many, people need to be given the facts. As you will see from this blog and those that follow, Harlow sits mid to low table when it comes to Essex. Therefore, before people start ‘having a go’ at how bad Harlow is, they should look at the bigger picture and see that there many many places in Essex (never mind the entire country), that are far worse off than Harlow and in many cases, Harlow is extremely safe in comparison to many other towns.”

Here, Jukes deals with various crime catagories:

Firstly, Anti Social Behaviour was our first blog.

Secondly, Burglary was done.

Then we looked at Criminal Damage & Arson.

Today we look at Drugs.

Then it will be Possession of Weapons.

Followed by Robbery.

Then it’s Vehicle Theft.

Penultimately Violent Crime.

Finally, we will look at All Crimes.

There are many people that believe Harlow will ‘top the charts’ for an array of crimes. The following data is supplied by Plumpot (https://a.plumplot.co.uk/).

Drugs

Below are the top ten Essex hot spots for Drugs shown as a percentage of the UK National Average.

IMPORTANT: Stansted Airport tops nearly every category in Essex. When it does, we do not show it as it is not a residential area.

1. Southend on Sea SS1 2. This postcode recorded 442% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
2. Southend on Sea SS1 1. This postcode recorded 439% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
3. Chelmsford CM1 1. This postcode recorded 380% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
4. Harlow CM20 1. This postcode recorded 349% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
5. Grays RM16 5. This postcode recorded 309% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
6. Basildon SS14 1. This postcode recorded 293% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
7. Southend on Sea SS2 6. This postcode recorded 279% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
8. Harlow CM20 3. This postcode recorded 279% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.
9. Brentwood CM14 4. This postcode recorded 264% of the national average crime rate for Drugs.

How did Harlow fair?

Harlow actually does not do very well in the drugs category.

It has tow of its postcodes in the top 10 for Essex. CM20 1 is the fourth worse postcode in Essex for drugs and CM20 3 is the eight!

Whilst this is not good, it still does NOT make Harlow the drug capital of Essex.

Here’s all the Harlow postcodes:

1. CM20 1 with 349% of the national average. This compares with 310% 6 months ago & 249% a year ago.
2. CM20 3 with 271% of the national average. This compares with 281% 6 months ago & 229% a year ago.
3. CM17 9 with 230% of the national average. This compares with 254% 6 months ago & 210% a year ago.
4. CM17 0 with 194% of the national average. This compares with 190% 6 months ago & 169% a year ago.
5. CM18 7 with 190% of the national average. This compares with 224% 6 months ago & 249% a year ago.
6. CM18 6 with 166% of the national average. This compares with 171% 6 months ago & 167% a year ago.
7. CM20 2 with 161% of the national average. This compares with 143% 6 months ago & 97% a year ago.
8. CM19 4 with 159% of the national average. This compares with 133% 6 months ago & 122% a year ago.
9. CM18 7 with 84% of the national average. This compares with 87% 6 months ago & 101% a year ago.

Conclusion

5 Harlow postcodes have seen the crime rate for drugs decrease in the last 6 months.

4 Harlow postcodes have seen the crime rate for drugs increase in the last 6 months.

Overall, the crime rate for drugs has increased by just 1% in the last 6 months against the national average.

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