‘County remains one of the safest places to live’

22 February 2023

Suffolk Police Federation chair Darren Harris says the county is still one of the safest places in the country to live despite a rise in violent deaths.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed eight homicides were committed in the Force area between April 2021 and March 2022.

The figure is up on the previous 12 months when five homicides were committed in Suffolk.

The homicide rate over the three-year period in the county to the year ending March 2022 was seven per million population, lower than the average for England and Wales which, which was 10.8 per million population.

Darren said: “While it’s disappointing that the number of violent deaths in our county rose in the latest figures, Suffolk remains one of the safest places in the country to live and work.

“The rise in the number of homicides is partly due to the end of Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns, but that doesn’t mean our members are not working tirelessly to prevent them or to catch and convict violent offenders.

“Any death to homicide is a tragedy and will leave behind devastated loved ones.

“We need a more community-based approach to policing so that our members can build the trust that leads to a flow of information, and we need to use the powers open to us to get weapons off the streets.  

“But it can’t just come down to policing. We need to work with other services, such as education and social services, to prevent violent deaths, and we need the criminal justice system to hand down the sentences that show we won’t tolerate violence.”

Nationally, homicide returned to pre-pandemic levels in the year to March 2022, according to the ONS figures.

There were 696 victims in the last year, 130 more – or a 23 per cent increase – than the year ending March 2021 when Government restrictions meant there was less social contact.

The ONS data also showed:

• The homicide rate over the three-year period to the year ending March 2022 was 39.7 per million population for the Black ethnic group, approximately four times higher than for the White ethnic group (8.9 per million population)
• 282 homicides, approximately 4 in 10, were committed using a knife or sharp instrument, a 19 per cent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest annual total since the Home Office’s homicide index began in 1946
• There were 69 homicide victims aged 13 to 19 years. Of these, 51 were killed by a knife or sharp instrument
• There were 134 domestic homicides in the year ending March 2022, 18 more than the previous year, and a similar number to the average over the last decade of 129
• Males accounted for 72 per cent of homicide victims in the latest year, but 93 per cent of convicted suspects.