Crime in East Suffolk
Recorded crime in East Suffolk is 0.7 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 23%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
249,664 residents in 145 neighbourhoods.
- Safety in the UK
- 6/10Average crime
- Safety in the world
- 7/10Low crime
- Living
- 5.7/10Fair
- 5-year change
- −23%fewer crimes
Crime over 5 years
Down 23% in 5 years Recorded crimes in East Suffolk, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 0.7× the England and Wales average. 57 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 70% of the harm here
- Burglary: 13% of the harm here
- Other theft: 5% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 70% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.
Anti-social behaviour: 9.9 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
Crime by type
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.
| Type | Per 1,000 a year |
|---|---|
| Robbery | 0.3 |
| Burglary | 3.0 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 26.3 |
| Drugs | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 0.5 |
| Other crime | 1.7 |
| Other theft | 5.0 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.3 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 2.6 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 7.2 |
| Public order | 5.0 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.9 |
| Shoplifting | 3.1 |
What crimes are recorded in East Suffolk
49.4 crimes per 1,000 residents were recorded in the Suffolk Coastal and Waveney partnership area in 2025/26 (England and Wales: 83.2).
Our total for April 2025 to March 2026: 12,625. Home Office recorded crime: 12,334 (2% apart).
Crimes recorded by the police, April 2025 to March 2026. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership. Figures for the Suffolk Coastal and Waveney community safety partnerships, which together cover East Suffolk.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 188 | 0.75 | Down 11% |
| Cars broken into | 258 | 1.0 | Up 9% |
| Vehicle tampering | 91 | 0.36 | Up 65% |
| Vandalism to homes | 415 | 1.7 | Up 12% |
| Vandalism to other buildings | 127 | 0.51 | Down 22% |
| Vandalism to vehicles | 419 | 1.7 | Down 12% |
| Arson | 62 | 0.25 | Down 21% |
| Burglary of homes | 178 | 0.71 | About the same |
| Burglary of businesses | 231 | 0.93 | About the same |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 2 | - | - |
| Carrying a knife or blade | 84 | 0.34 | About the same |
| Carrying other weapons (including guns) | 76 | 0.30 | Up 27% |
| Robbery of people | 42 | 0.17 | Up 8% |
| Robbery of businesses | 7 | - | - |
| Violence with injury | 1,626 | 6.5 | About the same |
| Violence without injury | 2,405 | 9.6 | Down 2% |
| Stalking and harassment | 1,049 | 4.2 | About the same |
| Sexual offences | 797 | 3.2 | Up 3% |
| Shoplifting | 927 | 3.7 | Down 16% |
| Bicycle theft | 151 | 0.60 | Down 2% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 69 | 0.28 | Up 13% |
| Drug dealing | 78 | 0.31 | Down 34% |
| Drug possession | 302 | 1.2 | Up 11% |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare. These are council-area figures: police.uk street-level data, used for the map and the Safety score, only has the broad categories, and no source publishes murders or stabbings by street.
Suffolk Police area: 365 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in 2025/26 (273 the year before). This covers the whole police force area, not only East Suffolk.
Source: Home Office, police recorded knife crime by police force.
Police and Crime Commissioner: Tim Passmore (Suffolk) →
How often crimes lead to a charge
In East Suffolk, 9% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).
- Charged or summonsed
- Caution or other action
- Suspect found, not prosecuted
- No suspect identified
- Still open
Show as a table
| Type | Crimes | Charged or summonsed | Caution or other action | Suspect found, not prosecuted | No suspect identified | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 5,990 | 8% | 22% | 56% | 9% | 5% |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 1,458 | 5% | 8% | 27% | 58% | 2% |
| Shoplifting | 1,070 | 14% | 5% | 8% | 72% | 1% |
| Other theft | 1,000 | 2% | 5% | 22% | 66% | 5% |
| Public order | 852 | 10% | 14% | 50% | 20% | 6% |
| Burglary | 621 | 7% | 2% | 9% | 79% | 3% |
| Other crime | 492 | 12% | 10% | 52% | 13% | 13% |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 463 | 6% | 1% | 13% | 78% | 2% |
| Drugs | 335 | 28% | 43% | 17% | 5% | 7% |
| Bicycle theft | 152 | 1% | 1% | 11% | 86% | 2% |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 139 | 33% | 12% | 42% | 10% | 3% |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 69 | 0% | 9% | 28% | 57% | 7% |
| Robbery | 55 | 15% | 4% | 47% | 29% | 5% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 5% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
East Suffolk, 2023 to 2025: 329 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 97 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 14 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
1.3 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 29% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Towns and cities in East Suffolk
Postcode districts in East Suffolk
Embed this on your site: a free live safety card for East Suffolk.
Questions about crime in East Suffolk
- Is East Suffolk a safe place to live?
- East Suffolk scores 6 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Is crime going up or down in East Suffolk?
- Down 23% over 5 years, from 16,695 recorded crimes a year to 12,823.
- What is the most common crime in East Suffolk?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 26 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in East Suffolk?
- In East Suffolk, 9% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 32% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many burglaries are solved in East Suffolk?
- Of 621 burglaries reported in East Suffolk between September 2024 and August 2025, 7% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 79% were closed with no suspect identified.
- How many cars are stolen in East Suffolk?
- In the Suffolk Coastal and Waveney community safety partnerships (East Suffolk), the police recorded 188 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 0.8 per 1,000 residents, down 11% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in East Suffolk?
- 961 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in the Suffolk Coastal and Waveney community safety partnerships (East Suffolk) in 2025/26, 3.8 per 1,000 residents, 0.8 times the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in East Suffolk last year?
- 2 homicides (murder or manslaughter) were recorded in the Suffolk Coastal and Waveney community safety partnerships (East Suffolk) in 2025/26, against 2 the year before.