data.police.uk (Police API) - Most Common Street-Level Crimes Within a Mile of a Point, Latest Month Published (official API)

import json, time
from collections import Counter
from datetime import date
 
PLACE = "Trafalgar Square"
LAT, LNG = 51.50806, -0.12806  # Trafalgar Square, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square (51.50805556, -0.12805556)
TOP = 10
 
SITE = "https://data.police.uk"
API = SITE + "/api"
PAUSE = 0.5  # docs: 15 requests/s, burst 30, HTTP 429 above that; one call at a time is far below it
ATTRIBUTION = "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0."
 
def on_api_tab():
    """fetch() runs same-origin from a logged-out data.police.uk tab (the crime-last-updated JSON). Reuse it."""
    try:
        if js("location.origin") == SITE:
            return
    except Exception:
        pass
    new_tab(API + "/crime-last-updated")
    wait_for_load()
    body = js("document.body ? document.body.innerText : ''") or ""
    if js("location.origin") != SITE or '"date"' not in body:
        raise RuntimeError(f"data.police.uk did not serve the API (at {js('location.href')}, body {body[:80]!r}): stop")
 
# js() gives up after a few seconds, and a 1-mile all-crime answer is about 1.5 MB, so start the fetch, then poll.
START_JS = """(() => { window.__pol = window.__pol || {}; const id = String(Math.random()).slice(2); window.__pol[id] = null;
  fetch(%s, {credentials: 'omit'})
    .then(async r => { window.__pol[id] = {status: r.status, type: r.headers.get('content-type'), text: await r.text()}; })
    .catch(e => { window.__pol[id] = {status: 0, type: '', text: String(e)}; });
  return id; })()"""
POLL_JS = """(() => { const v = window.__pol[%s]; if (v) delete window.__pol[%s]; return v; })()"""
 
def get(path, timeout=90):
    """GET API+path from inside the tab -> parsed JSON. Errors are not JSON (400/404 empty HTML, 'Not Found' text).
    Waits 10 s once on 429/5xx, raises on anything else, so an error never looks like 'no crimes'."""
    for attempt in range(2):
        rid = json.dumps(js(START_JS % json.dumps(API + path)))
        t0 = time.time()
        while (r := js(POLL_JS % (rid, rid))) is None:
            if time.time() - t0 > timeout:
                raise RuntimeError(f"{path}: no answer after {timeout}s")
            time.sleep(0.5)
        time.sleep(PAUSE)
        if r["status"] == 200 and "json" in (r["type"] or ""):
            return json.loads(r["text"])
        if r["status"] in (0, 429, 500, 502, 503, 504) and attempt == 0:
            time.sleep(10)
            continue
        raise RuntimeError(f"{path}: HTTP {r['status']} {r['type']!r} {' '.join(r['text'].split())[:120]!r}; stopping")
 
on_api_tab()
 
# 1. Latest published month. The day is a placeholder ("2026-09-01" means September 2026).
last = get("/crime-last-updated")
month = last["date"][:7]
y, m = map(int, month.split("-"))
today = date.today()
lag = (today.year - y) * 12 + today.month - m
print(f"crime-last-updated: {last['date']} -> latest month {month} ({lag} months before {today:%Y-%m})")
if lag < 1 or lag > 6:
    raise RuntimeError(f"latest month {month} is {lag} months from today: check the changelog before answering")
newest = get("/crimes-street-dates")[0]["date"]  # newest first; lags crime-last-updated while an upload is in progress
if newest != month:
    raise RuntimeError(f"crime-last-updated says {month}, crimes-street-dates starts at {newest}: data mid-update, retry later")
 
# 2. Which force covers the point (the 1-mile circle can cross force boundaries; Trafalgar Square is the Met).
hood = get(f"/locate-neighbourhood?q={LAT},{LNG}")
force = get(f"/forces/{hood['force']}")
print(f"point {LAT},{LNG} ({PLACE}): force {force['name']} ({hood['force']}), neighbourhood {hood['neighbourhood']}")
 
# 3. Category names for that month, then every crime within 1 mile of the point in that month.
names = {c["url"]: c["name"] for c in get(f"/crime-categories?date={month}")}
crimes = get(f"/crimes-street/all-crime?lat={LAT}&lng={LNG}&date={month}")
if not isinstance(crimes, list) or not crimes:
    raise RuntimeError(f"no crimes returned for {month} at {LAT},{LNG}: outside England, Wales and NI, or a future month")
months = Counter(c["month"] for c in crimes)
if set(months) != {month}:
    raise RuntimeError(f"asked for {month}, got months {dict(months)}")
unknown = {c["category"] for c in crimes} - set(names)
if unknown:
    raise RuntimeError(f"categories not in crime-categories?date={month}: {sorted(unknown)}")
 
by_cat = Counter(c["category"] for c in crimes)
asb = by_cat.pop("anti-social-behaviour", 0)  # all-crime includes ASB incidents, which are not crimes
n = sum(by_cat.values())
print(f"\nall-crime within 1 mile, {month}: {len(crimes):,} records = {n:,} crimes + {asb:,} anti-social behaviour incidents")
print(f"location_type: {dict(Counter(c['location_type'] for c in crimes))}   (BTP = British Transport Police)")
print(f"\ntop {TOP} crime types ({month}, 1 mile of {PLACE}):")
for i, (cat, k) in enumerate(by_cat.most_common(TOP), 1):
    print(f"  {i:2}. {names[cat]:<30} {k:5,}  {100 * k / n:4.1f}%   ({cat})")
print(f"  (anti-social behaviour, not a crime: {asb:,})")
 
streets = Counter(c["location"]["street"]["name"] for c in crimes if c["category"] != "anti-social-behaviour")
print("\nbusiest location labels (approximate, anonymised; one label can cover several snap points):")
for s, k in streets.most_common(5):
    print(f"  {k:4}  {s}")
 
top3 = ", ".join(f"{names[c].lower()} ({k:,})" for c, k in by_cat.most_common(3))
print(f"\nanswer: in {date(y, m, 1):%B %Y}, the latest month published, the most common street-level crimes within"
      f" a mile of {PLACE} were {top3}, out of {n:,} crimes.")
print(f"  Source: data.police.uk (Police API), /api/crimes-street/all-crime. {ATTRIBUTION}")  # the mile can cross force boundaries

crime-last-updated: 2026-09-01 -> latest month 2026-09 (2 months before 2026-11)
point 51.50806,-0.12806 (Trafalgar Square): force Metropolitan Police Service (metropolitan), neighbourhood E05013806N
 
all-crime within 1 mile, 2026-09: 3,749 records = 3,353 crimes + 396 anti-social behaviour incidents
location_type: {'Force': 3749}   (BTP = British Transport Police)
 
top 10 crime types (2026-09, 1 mile of Trafalgar Square):
   1. Other theft                      823  24.5%   (other-theft)
   2. Theft from the person            662  19.7%   (theft-from-the-person)
   3. Violence and sexual offences     584  17.4%   (violent-crime)
   4. Shoplifting                      540  16.1%   (shoplifting)
   5. Public order                     195   5.8%   (public-order)
   6. Drugs                            162   4.8%   (drugs)
   7. Robbery                          119   3.5%   (robbery)
   8. Burglary                          86   2.6%   (burglary)
   9. Bicycle theft                     65   1.9%   (bicycle-theft)
  10. Vehicle crime                     64   1.9%   (vehicle-crime)
  (anti-social behaviour, not a crime: 396)
 
busiest location labels (approximate, anonymised; one label can cover several snap points):
   308  On or near Nightclub
   188  On or near Theatre/concert Hall
   178  On or near Further/higher Educational Building
    90  On or near Parking Area
    90  On or near Shopping Area
 
answer: in September 2026, the latest month published, the most common street-level crimes within a mile of Trafalgar Square were other theft (823), theft from the person (662), violence and sexual offences (584), out of 3,353 crimes.
  Source: data.police.uk (Police API), /api/crimes-street/all-crime. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

import json, time
 
SITE = "https://data.police.uk"
API = SITE + "/api"
LAT, LNG = 51.50806, -0.12806  # Trafalgar Square
 
# The docs pages, as a logged-out browser sees them: authentication, call limits, licence, 1-mile radius.
new_tab(SITE + "/docs/authentication/")
wait_for_load()
if js("location.origin") != SITE:
    raise RuntimeError(f"data.police.uk did not serve its docs (at {js('location.href')}): stop")
for page, needles in (("/docs/authentication/", ["The Police API no longer requires authentication."]),
                      ("/docs/api-call-limits/", ["The current rate limit is 15 requests per second with a burst of 30.",
                                                  "HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests)"]),
                      ("/docs/method/crime-street/", ["within a 1 mile radius of a single point",
                                                      "The latest month will be shown by default"]),
                      ("/about/", ["Open Government Licence v3.0", "Geographic Coverage: England, Wales, Northern Ireland"])):
    goto_url(SITE + page)
    wait_for_load()
    text = " ".join((js("document.body.innerText") or "").split())
    for s in needles:
        if s not in text:
            raise RuntimeError(f"{page} no longer says {s!r}: re-read it before relying on this skill")
        i = text.find(s)
        print(f"{page}: ...{text[i:i + 110]}...")
    time.sleep(1)
 
# Same-origin probes from an API page, same tab. No retries: this block only inspects answers.
goto_url(API + "/crime-last-updated")
wait_for_load()
START_JS = """(() => { window.__pol = window.__pol || {}; const id = String(Math.random()).slice(2); window.__pol[id] = null;
  fetch(%s, {credentials: 'omit'})
    .then(async r => { window.__pol[id] = {status: r.status, type: r.headers.get('content-type'), text: await r.text()}; })
    .catch(e => { window.__pol[id] = {status: 0, type: '', text: String(e)}; });
  return id; })()"""
POLL_JS = """(() => { const v = window.__pol[%s]; if (v) delete window.__pol[%s]; return v; })()"""
 
def raw(url, timeout=90):
    rid = json.dumps(js(START_JS % json.dumps(url)))
    t0 = time.time()
    while (r := js(POLL_JS % (rid, rid))) is None:
        if time.time() - t0 > timeout:
            raise RuntimeError(f"{url}: no answer after {timeout}s")
        time.sleep(0.5)
    time.sleep(0.5)
    return r["status"], r["type"] or "", r["text"]
 
s, t, body = raw(SITE + "/robots.txt")
print(f"\nrobots.txt: HTTP {s} {t} {len(body)} bytes {body!r}")
 
s, t, body = raw(API + "/crimes-street-dates")
d = json.loads(body)
print(f"crimes-street-dates: HTTP {s}, {len(d)} months, {d[-1]['date']} .. {d[0]['date']}\n")
 
pt = f"lat={LAT}&lng={LNG}"
for label, path in (("no date (latest)",  f"/crimes-street/all-crime?{pt}"),
                    ("next month",        f"/crimes-street/all-crime?{pt}&date=2026-10"),
                    ("before coverage",   f"/crimes-street/all-crime?{pt}&date=2023-09"),
                    ("bad month",         f"/crimes-street/all-crime?{pt}&date=2026-13"),
                    ("bad lat",           f"/crimes-street/all-crime?lat=abc&lng={LNG}"),
                    ("Paris",             "/crimes-street/all-crime?lat=48.8566&lng=2.3522&date=2026-09"),
                    ("unknown category",  f"/crimes-street/not-a-category?{pt}&date=2026-09"),
                    ("one category",      f"/crimes-street/burglary?{pt}&date=2026-09"),
                    ("locate in Paris",   "/locate-neighbourhood?q=48.8566,2.3522")):
    s, t, body = raw(API + path)
    if s == 200 and "json" in t and body.startswith("["):
        rows = json.loads(body)
        cats = sorted({r["category"] for r in rows})
        months = sorted({r["month"] for r in rows})
        print(f"{label:17} HTTP {s} {len(rows):5} rows, months {months}, {len(cats)} categories {cats[:3]}")
    else:
        print(f"{label:17} HTTP {s} {t!r} {' '.join(body.split())[:60]!r}")

/docs/authentication/: ...The Police API no longer requires authentication. Responses If a request succeeds, the API will return a 200 s...
/docs/api-call-limits/: ...The current rate limit is 15 requests per second with a burst of 30. So, on average you must make fewer than 1...
/docs/api-call-limits/: ...HTTP 429 (Too Many Requests) response code. Cookies...
/docs/method/crime-street/: ...within a 1 mile radius of a single point, or within a custom area. The street-level crimes returned in the API...
/docs/method/crime-street/: ...The latest month will be shown by default Custom area poly The lat/lng pairs which define the boundary of the ...
/about/: ...Open Government Licence v3.0 Language: en-GB Data Download The latest complete copy of all the data described ...
/about/: ...Geographic Coverage: England, Wales, Northern Ireland Publisher: Single Online Home National Digital Team lice...
 
robots.txt: HTTP 200 text/plain 0 bytes ''
crimes-street-dates: HTTP 200, 36 months, 2023-10 .. 2026-09
 
no date (latest)  HTTP 200  3749 rows, months ['2026-09'], 14 categories ['anti-social-behaviour', 'bicycle-theft', 'burglary']
next month        HTTP 200     0 rows, months [], 0 categories []
before coverage   HTTP 404 'text/html; charset=utf-8' ''
bad month         HTTP 404 'text/html; charset=utf-8' ''
bad lat           HTTP 400 'text/html; charset=utf-8' ''
Paris             HTTP 200     0 rows, months [], 0 categories []
unknown category  HTTP 200  3749 rows, months ['2026-09'], 14 categories ['anti-social-behaviour', 'bicycle-theft', 'burglary']
one category      HTTP 200    86 rows, months ['2026-09'], 1 categories ['burglary']
locate in Paris   HTTP 404 'text/plain' 'Not Found'

import json, sys, time, urllib.error, urllib.request
from collections import Counter
 
LAT, LNG = 51.50806, -0.12806  # Trafalgar Square (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafalgar_Square)
API = "https://data.police.uk/api"
 
def get(path):
    """GET -> parsed JSON. Python's default User-Agent got HTTP 200. Errors are empty HTML (400/404), not JSON."""
    for attempt in range(2):
        try:
            with urllib.request.urlopen(API + path, timeout=90) as r:
                body = r.read()
            time.sleep(0.5)  # docs: 15 requests/s, burst 30
            return json.loads(body)
        except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
            if e.code in (429, 500, 502, 503, 504) and attempt == 0:
                time.sleep(10)
                continue
            sys.exit(f"{path}: HTTP {e.code} {e.headers.get('content-type')!r}")
 
month = get("/crime-last-updated")["date"][:7]
newest = get("/crimes-street-dates")[0]["date"]  # newest first
if newest != month:
    sys.exit(f"crime-last-updated says {month}, crimes-street-dates starts at {newest}: data mid-update, retry later")
 
crimes = get(f"/crimes-street/all-crime?lat={LAT}&lng={LNG}&date={month}")
if not crimes or {c["month"] for c in crimes} != {month}:
    sys.exit(f"unexpected answer for {month}: {len(crimes)} rows, months {sorted({c['month'] for c in crimes})}")
names = {c["url"]: c["name"] for c in get(f"/crime-categories?date={month}")}
cats = Counter(c["category"] for c in crimes if c["category"] != "anti-social-behaviour")
n = sum(cats.values())
print(f"{month}: {len(crimes):,} records within 1 mile, {n:,} crimes excluding anti-social behaviour")
for cat, k in cats.most_common(5):
    print(f"  {names[cat]:<30} {k:5,}  {100 * k / n:4.1f}%")
 
outcomes = Counter((c["outcome_status"] or {}).get("category", "no outcome yet") for c in crimes
                   if c["category"] != "anti-social-behaviour")
print("latest outcomes:", ", ".join(f"{o} {k:,}" for o, k in outcomes.most_common(3)))
print("Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.")

2026-09: 3,749 records within 1 mile, 3,353 crimes excluding anti-social behaviour
  Other theft                      823  24.5%
  Theft from the person            662  19.7%
  Violence and sexual offences     584  17.4%
  Shoplifting                      540  16.1%
  Public order                     195   5.8%
latest outcomes: Investigation complete; no suspect identified 1,683, Under investigation 1,224, Unable to prosecute suspect 242
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A=https://data.police.uk/api
M=$(curl -sS --fail "$A/crime-last-updated" | python3 -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["date"][:7])')
echo "latest month: $M"
sleep 1
curl -sS --fail "$A/crimes-street/all-crime?lat=51.50806&lng=-0.12806&date=$M" | python3 -c '
import json, sys
from collections import Counter
rows = json.load(sys.stdin)
c = Counter(r["category"] for r in rows if r["category"] != "anti-social-behaviour")
print(sum(c.values()), "crimes;", c.most_common(3))
'
sleep 1
curl -sS -o /dev/null -w 'next month (2026-10): HTTP %{http_code}, %{size_download} bytes\n' "$A/crimes-street/all-crime?lat=51.50806&lng=-0.12806&date=2026-10"

latest month: 2026-09
3353 crimes; [('other-theft', 823), ('theft-from-the-person', 662), ('violent-crime', 584)]
next month (2026-10): HTTP 200, 2 bytes