Safety · Dover
Dover, MA crime & safety
Dover's reported crime rate is well below Massachusetts's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 6 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Dover compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Dover at a glance
Violent crime
1
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 3
Property crime
3.6
per 1,000 residents · Massachusetts 10.4
Incidents reported
28
6 violent · 22 property
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
DoverMassachusetts
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Dover property | Massachusetts property | Dover violent | Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.2 | 10.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| 2023 | 3.2 | 11.5 | 0.5 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 5 | 11.3 | 1.5 | 3.2 |
| 2025 | 3.6 | 10.4 | 1 | 3 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
18
Burglary
2
Vehicle theft
2
Aggravated assault
5
Robbery
0
Rape
1
Homicide
0
Arson
0
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Dover safe
Local public safety
👮 Dover Police DepartmentReports its crime counts to the FBI — the figures on this page.
🚨 EmergenciesCall 911. For non-emergency numbers, alerts and preparedness, see the town guide.
Next door
Dover and its neighbors
Reported crime per 1,000 residents in each town's latest year. * = a count, for towns under 1,000 people.
| Town | Violent | Property | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | 1 | 3.6 | 2025 |
| Needham | 0.8 | 5.9 | 2025 |
| Wellesley | 0.5 | 3.3 | 2025 |
| Sherborn | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2025 |
| Walpole | 1.3 | 7.9 | 2025 |
| Natick | 2.1 | 10.3 | 2025 |
| Medfield | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Needham, Dover, Wellesley.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can't tell you
- It's reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many thefts and some assaults are never reported.
- Small numbers swing. In a town of about 6,100, a handful of incidents moves the rate noticeably from year to year. The trend matters more than any one year.
- Visitors count too. Towns with a campus, highway, beach or shopping center see incidents involving people who don't live there, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn't report a full year, not that nothing happened.
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. This isn't an official statement of public safety — in an emergency, call 911.