Extra Friday and Saturday night police patrols in Chelmsford city centre now run to the end of December, 7pm to 3am. The summer tally: 10 arrests in 264 hours.
Extra police patrols will walk Chelmsford city centre on Friday and Saturday nights until the end of December. Chelmsford City Council announced on Friday that it is paying for them to continue through October, November and December, from 7pm to 3am (Chelmsford City Council, 30 October 2026).
The patrols began in July and were due to end in September. The money comes from the council’s anti-social behaviour fund, which was increased in its February 2026 budget. Neither the council nor Essex Police has published what the extension costs.
What the summer patrols produced
The council has now published figures for the whole summer. It says officers on the extra patrols:
- attended 11 incidents
- made 10 arrests
- seized two knives and one e-bike
- carried out five drug disposals and one vehicle stop
All of that came from 264 hours of foot patrols, the council says.
Those totals sit oddly beside the council’s earlier figures. On 10 September it said the first 248 hours, in July alone, produced 9 arrests, 37 stop searches and one knife (Chelmsford City Council, 10 September 2026). Read together, the two releases leave only 16 patrol hours and one arrest for August and September. The council has not said how the hours were split across the three months, or whether the two sets of figures were counted the same way. We covered the July figures in detail when they came out.
Where and when the patrols run
- When: Friday and Saturday evenings, 7pm to 3am
- Months: October, November and December 2026
- Where: the High Street and the streets around it, and green spaces “such as Central Park and Bell Meadow”
The summer scheme also named Chelmer Valley Local Nature Reserve. The new announcement does not mention it. The summer patrols were also described as funded half by the council and half by Essex Police; the new announcement presents the extension as the council’s funding.
Cllr Natacha Dudley, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said the money was there “to keep police visible during the lead up to Christmas party season and the new year”. She added: “data tells us that it’s also one of the most effective ways to deter offending.”
Inspector Emily Holmes, who leads the Chelmsford and Maldon Neighbourhood Policing Team, said the summer patrols let officers “step in early when issues arose”. She said the force would “take action against those whose behaviour causes harm or makes others feel unsafe”.
What the police data shows so far
Essex Police’s street-level records for August 2026 are now on data.police.uk. We pulled every record inside the force’s own boundary for the Chelmsford Town neighbourhood, the same area we used for the July figures.
Recorded anti-social behaviour fell from 133 incidents in July to 99 in August. That is still three times the 33 recorded in August 2025. All recorded incidents in the area came to 717 in August, against 744 in July and 543 a year earlier.
| Month | Anti-social behaviour | All records |
|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | 33 | 543 |
| September 2025 | 38 | 560 |
| June 2026 | 97 | 657 |
| July 2026 | 133 | 744 |
| August 2026 | 99 | 717 |
Two cautions apply. The Chelmsford Town neighbourhood is much larger than the city centre and takes in a lot of housing the patrols never reach. And recorded incidents partly measure police activity: more officers on the street means more incidents seen and logged. September’s figures are not out yet.
The rest of the council’s package
The council listed other work alongside the patrols:
- a new anti-knife crime project from its community safety team, launching in November
- training for nightlife venues and other businesses under Chelmsford’s Women’s Safety Charter
- new CCTV cameras covering Tindal Square, and around the Meadows Shopping Centre to take in French’s Walk and Kings Head Walk
The council says Chelmsford has held Purple Flag accreditation for its night-time economy for 13 years.
What it means for you
If you are out in the city centre this Christmas. Uniformed officers will be on foot in the High Street area every Friday and Saturday night until the end of December, until 3am. The council-funded Night Marshals, in purple hi-vis, also work weekend nights; we set out their hours in our story on the Friday marshals.
If you drive in for a night out. Our guide to parking in Chelmsford has the evening tariffs, and the release fee if you are locked in at High Chelmer after midnight.
If you want to report anti-social behaviour. Essex Police take non-emergency reports online or on 101. In an emergency, call 999.
Sources
- Chelmsford City Council, City Life, 30 October 2026: the extension, hours, months, areas, funding source, summer totals, quotes, CCTV and the anti-knife crime project.
- Chelmsford City Council, City Life, 10 September 2026: the July figures.
- data.police.uk street-level crime API, Chelmsford Town neighbourhood (NB102) boundary, August 2025 to August 2026, pulled 31 October 2026.
Have your say