Safety · Watertown
Watertown, NY crime & safety
Watertown's reported crime rate is well above New York's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 131 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Watertown compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Watertown at a glance
Violent crime
5.5
per 1,000 residents · New York 3.7
Property crime
39.4
per 1,000 residents · New York 15.7
Incidents reported
1,074
131 violent · 943 property
Since 2022
▼ 4%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
WatertownNew York
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Watertown property | New York property | Watertown violent | New York violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41.1 | 17.4 | 6.4 | 4.3 |
| 2023 | 40.9 | 18.7 | 5 | 4 |
| 2024 | 39.3 | 17.2 | 6 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 39.4 | 15.7 | 5.5 | 3.7 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
813
Burglary
97
Vehicle theft
33
Aggravated assault
67
Robbery
15
Rape
49
Homicide
0
Arson
18
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Watertown safe
Local public safety
👮 Watertown 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
Watertown 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | 5.5 | 39.4 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Watertown, Pamelia, Le Ray.
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 23,900, 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.