Car theft and vehicle crime in Sunderland
Between October 2025 and September 2026, Northumbria Police logged 261 vehicle offences inside a one-mile radius of Sunderland. Recent months have been broadly steady: 74 offences in the latest quarter against 71 previously.
Sunderland month by month
September 2026 stands out at 37 recorded offences, while February 2026 dropped to 5. The second half ran 25% above the first. Average: 21.8 a month.
| Month | Offences | vs 12-month average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 35 | +13 |
| Nov 2025 | 22 | +0 |
| Dec 2025 | 15 | -7 |
| Jan 2026 | 8 | -14 |
| Feb 2026 | 5 | -17 |
| Mar 2026 | 31 | +9 |
| Apr 2026 | 15 | -7 |
| May 2026 | 22 | +0 |
| Jun 2026 | 34 | +12 |
| Jul 2026 | 19 | -3 |
| Aug 2026 | 18 | -4 |
| Sep 2026 | 37 | +15 |
How Sunderland compares
Sunderland sits at number 49 of 84 on our table, with 22 offences a month: close to the typical town in our set. By contrast Cardiff recorded 116 a month.
Over the latest three months the one-mile circle around Sunderland averaged 25 vehicle offences a month. Central Sunderland is busier than 85% of the postcodes in our Great Britain sample. Our benchmark is 400 random postcodes from England, Scotland and Wales, counted with the same one-mile method over Jul 2026, Aug 2026, Sep 2026. Test your own street with the free theft risk checker.
Within the Northumbria Police area, Sunderland ranks 2 of the 2 centres we track at 22 offences a month. The others: Newcastle upon Tyne (29).
Towns nearest to Sunderland
- Newcastle upon Tyne (11 miles away): 29 a month, 35% more than Sunderland
- Durham (12 miles away): 5 a month, 78% fewer than Sunderland
- Middlesbrough (24 miles away): 53 a month, 145% more than Sunderland
Where in Sunderland offences were recorded
Just five locations make up 15% of the 261 offences recorded around Sunderland.
- On or near Parking Area: 12
- On or near Borough Road: 10
- On or near Bridge Crescent: 7
- On or near Foyle Street: 6
- On or near Derwent Street: 5
What happened to Sunderland cases
The most common recorded outcome near Sunderland was "investigation complete; no suspect identified" (205 cases).
| Outcome | Offences | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Investigation complete; no suspect identified | 205 | 79% |
| Under investigation | 37 | 14% |
| Status update unavailable | 16 | 6% |
| Court result unavailable | 3 | 1% |
What this means if you park near Sunderland
At about 22 offences a month, Sunderland is quieter than a big-city centre, but one theft still costs the full value of the vehicle. Watch September in particular: it produced the highest count locally.
Most owners near Sunderland start with an immobiliser for prevention, then add monitored tracking if the insurer asks for it. See installation options.
Sunderland car theft questions
How much car crime is there in Sunderland?
261 in the latest 12 months (22 a month on average) within roughly a mile of the Sunderland centre. Of our 84 towns, Sunderland comes 49, in the middle end of the table.
When was vehicle crime worst in Sunderland?
Sunderland peaked in September 2026 at 37 recorded offences and bottomed out at 5 in February 2026; 37 were logged in September 2026.
Are car thieves caught in Sunderland?
Police.uk shows 205 of 261 Sunderland cases (79%) closed without a suspect and 3 with a court-stage outcome, so an owner is far better served by an immobiliser and tracker than by the odds of a conviction.
Does this cover stolen cars only in Sunderland?
Not only. The 261 Sunderland offences combine cars stolen outright, items taken from vehicles and tampering, because police.uk publishes them as one vehicle crime category.
Source: police.uk, centred on 54.9069, -1.3838, retrieved 2026-11-06. Method and limits.