Safety · Portsmouth
Portsmouth, RI crime & safety
Portsmouth's reported crime rate is well below Rhode Island's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 7 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
Crime reported to police, trends and how Portsmouth compares with the towns next door, from FBI data.
Reported crime, 2025
Portsmouth at a glance
Violent crime
0.4
per 1,000 residents · Rhode Island 1.5
Property crime
3
per 1,000 residents · Rhode Island 9.2
Incidents reported
59
7 violent · 52 property
Since 2022
▼ 14%
change in reported property crime
Violent crime per 1,000
Property crime per 1,000
Trend
Reported crime per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025
PortsmouthRhode Island
Solid lines: property crime · dashed: violent crime.
Show as a table
| Year | Portsmouth property | Rhode Island property | Portsmouth violent | Rhode Island violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3.5 | 13 | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 2.7 | 11.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
| 2024 | 3.5 | 10.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| 2025 | 3 | 9.2 | 0.4 | 1.5 |
What gets reported
2025, by type
Larceny / theft
43
Burglary
5
Vehicle theft
4
Aggravated assault
4
Robbery
0
Rape
3
Homicide
0
Arson
1
Offenses reported to police, not convictions.
Who keeps Portsmouth safe
Local public safety
👮 Portsmouth 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
Portsmouth 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portsmouth | 0.4 | 3 | 2025 |
| Bristol | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2025 |
| Tiverton | 1.3 | 5.8 | 2025 |
| Warwick | 0.9 | 9 | 2025 |
| North Kingstown | 0.5 | 5.7 | 2025 |
| Middletown | 1.1 | 6.5 | 2025 |
| Jamestown | 0 | 2.4 | 2025 |
No town figures in the FBI's data: Tiverton.
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 17,300, 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.