Vehicle crime in the West Midlands: police data to August 2026

Police.uk open data for the West Midlands to August 2026, analysed by Clear Security. Part of our UK vehicle crime study; updated quarterly; this edition was published 31 October 2026.

Key findings

• West Midlands Police recorded 27,377 vehicle crime offences in the year to August 2026, against 27,448 in the year before (-0.3%). The change is within the ordinary month-to-month variation for the West Midlands, so we describe it as little changed.
• Council areas: vehicle crime rose in 1 of the 7 council areas below; in the rest the change was too small to call.
• Outcomes: 81.5% of vehicle crime offences recorded in the year to August 2025 ended with no suspect identified, against 83.1% across England and Wales.
• Busiest month: September averaged 84.8 vehicle crime offences a day over three years, 16.5% more than December.
• Nationally: vehicle crime changed by -3.2% across 38 forces and rose in 17 of them; the West Midlands's change ranks 18 of 38 (1 is the largest rise).

Vehicle crime by council area in the West Midlands

Recorded vehicle crime offences in each council area where West Midlands Police recorded at least 80% of the vehicle crime offences:

Council area	Year to August 2025	Year to August 2026	Change	Per 1,000 residents	No suspect identified (year to August 2025)
Birmingham	12,011	12,162	+1.3% (little changed)	10.6	82.3%
Coventry	3,098	2,720	-12.2% (little changed)	7.9	79.9%
Dudley	2,402	2,196	-8.6% (little changed)	6.8	83.8%
Sandwell	3,081	3,203	+4.0% (little changed)	9.4	77.5%
Solihull	2,239	2,117	-5.4% (little changed)	9.8	88.5%
Walsall	2,298	2,862	+24.5% (rose)	10.1	79.5%
Wolverhampton	2,279	2,079	-8.8% (little changed)	7.9	77.7%

A change is called a rise or a fall only when it is statistically clear and at least 10%; see how the study is compiled. Rates use Census 2021 residents. police.uk places vehicle crime where the vehicle was, at work and in town as well as at home, so council areas with many businesses and few residents show higher rates: they are context, not a ranking. A further 38 vehicle crime offences recorded by West Midlands Police in the year to August 2026 were placed in council areas mostly policed by other forces (Bromsgrove, Nuneaton and Bedworth, South Staffordshire, North Warwickshire, Lichfield and others); they count towards the force total but not the table.

What happened to vehicle crime offences in the West Midlands

Latest outcome on police.uk for vehicle crime offences recorded in the year to August 2025, so each case had at least a year to progress:

Latest outcome	The West Midlands	England and Wales
Investigation complete; no suspect identified	81.5% (22,374)	83.1%
Unable to prosecute suspect	13.5% (3,700)	10.6%
Court-related	4.1% (1,123)	3.0%
Status update unavailable	0.5% (140)	2.8%
Other outcomes	0.4% (111)	0.5%

Based on 27,448 vehicle crime offences. Differences partly reflect how each force records outcomes, so this is not a measure of police performance.

When vehicle crime peaks in the West Midlands

Average recorded vehicle crime offences per day in each calendar month, over three years (September 2023 to August 2026):

Month	Per day
January	78.9
February	81.8
March	80.7
April	84.3
May	81.5
June	77.1
July	79.4
August	76.6
September	84.8
October	83.9
November	81.2
December	72.8

Data notes

• Figures are police.uk street-level records for West Midlands Police, September 2023 to August 2026. They are operational data, not official statistics, and can differ from ONS and Home Office publications.
• How the study is compiled: methodology.

Edition history

Figures quoted from an earlier edition stay traceable here:

Edition	Vehicle crime offences (year to edition)	Change on the year before
August 2026	27,377	-0.3%

If you are reviewing how your car is protected

This section is practical guidance, not a finding from the data.

• Check what your cameras show at night. A camera only helps identify a suspect if a face or a number plate can be made out after dark, where the car is actually parked.
• Keep footage long enough to hand over. Damage or a theft noticed days later needs a recording that still exists. Work out how many days your recorder holds with the CCTV storage calculator.
• Know the rules before you record beyond your boundary. Our UK vehicle crime study summarises the ICO guidance on home CCTV.

Reuse and sources

• police.uk open data and its August 2026 archive.
• Population: Office for National Statistics, Census 2021 usual residents (Nomis).

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Free to reuse: journalists and community groups may quote these figures; please credit Clear Security with a link (any rel is fine). A spreadsheet of the tables is available on request from Clear Security.

About this study. Compiled by Clear Security LTD, 16 Wimborne Road, Luton LU1 1PD. No police force or public body was involved in, or has endorsed, this analysis.