Suffolk has been ranked the third safest county in the UK in data published by the Office of National Statistics

Suffolk has been ranked the third safest county in the UK for the second year after seeing a drop in knife crime and robbery offences.

Data, released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), looked at areas of the UK where people are least likely to be victims of crime.

Tim Passmore, Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner, said he was ‘proud’ the county remains one of the safest places to live in the country.

“Suffolk is a good force, but it is a small force covering a huge geographic area so I believe the constabulary punches well above their weight in the national arena.

“I would like to thank officers, staff and volunteers for their unstinting commitment to keep us safe,” said Mr Passmore.

The ONS data, which recorded crime for the 12 months ending September 2024, showed 58.7 crimes per 1000 people — a decrease of 5.1 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

Robbery saw a 17.6 per cent decline in offences during this time period, and the number of drugs offences dropped by 13.1 per cent.

The data relating to knife crime looks at offences per 10,000 people - it also showed a decrease of 26.2 per cent.

Despite these improvements, non-residential burglary rose by 16.4 per cent, shoplifting rose 4.6 per cent and residential burglary rose by 0.3 per cent.

Deputy Chief Constable Rob Jones said: “We remain mindful of the increase in shoplifting offences and retail crime generally and the detrimental impact it has as it can ultimately threaten the future of the business affected.”

He highlighted the work of a retail forum aimed at retailers, businesses and business improvement districts set up last autumn, to see how police can work with other partners to increase understanding of crimes that affect business.

Mr Jones said: “We continue to work to tackle shoplifting using preventative powers such the Anti-Social Behaviour Act to tackle persistent offenders, use of Community Protection Notices and Criminal Behaviour Orders.

"Our Design Out Crime Officers also provide crime prevention advice to many of the shops and business networks in our town centres regarding what they can do to reduce theft and burglary.

“We continue to closely monitor our burglary figures as we are very conscious of the devastating impact being burgled has on victims, so it’s key our detectives have the right investigative skills.

“Our focus remains on the initial response including gathering forensics, house to house enquiries and searching through CCTV."