Our glorious county of Suffolk is a favourite destination for day trippers and holiday makers alike during the summer season for a whole variety of reasons. The county welcomes people from around the world and this continues despite the prevailing global tensions and economic difficulties.
There are many good reasons to visit our county – the coast, stunning landscapes, and natural environment, some of the finest food and drink in the world; arts and culture – including The Gainsborough House Museum and Theatre Royal, and don’t forget the internationally acclaimed Latitude Festival held at Henham Park near Southwold. We are blessed with a spectacular array of heritage sites. Suffolk is also recognised for the location of the global home of horse racing in Newmarket – something the King and Queen paid great attention to during their visit last month. You name it we have it!
As a county we must try to ensure visitors enjoy themselves and are kept safe and sound when here, and, clearly, our Constabulary has a major influence on this, but don’t forget we all have a responsibility to help maintain community safety. The good news is evidenced by the recent Office for National Statistics data published last week which shows Suffolk continues to benefit from the third lowest recorded crime rates nationally. This excellent performance needs to continue!
There are a few pockets of the county with higher crime rates, as found in any society, so to help tackle this challenge, some new community safety initiatives have been set up. One of these specific operations, which commenced a few weeks ago - under the banner of ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ - will directly benefit Newmarket. This approach focuses on a small closely-defined area where there is robust evidence of criminal activity causing significant harm to the neighbourhood often down to organised crime groups from outside the county. The initial phase requires very tough policing to ‘clear’ the area of these thugs and criminals, and is a great success. I trust those convicted will receive stiff sentences. This high-profile policing is maintained, which is the ‘hold’ phase, before the final ‘build’ phase starts. This final stage is where our commissioning and grant funding can help to make a real contribution and I will be discussing this with community representatives from the town very soon.
A further initiative, which started under the previous government, is Hotspot Policing. Suffolk Constabulary has received £1million which funds additional police patrols and overtime, and makes contributions to other agencies that help tackle anti-social behaviour and lower-level (but still significant) crime such as shop lifting and car crime.
Earlier this year the Home Office launched yet another scheme, but unlike the Hotspot activity no additional funding was made available. Instead, the officials have decided there will be a new Summer Safer Streets Initiative in nine nominated towns. In the western part of Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Sudbury are included and for some bizarre ‘logic’ Haverhill is excluded! I have absolutely no idea what criteria was employed, but may I reassure all residents and businesses in Haverhill are not being ignored by me.
This summer initiative lasts from July to September inclusive, although, much of the multi-agency work requested is already being carried out. Nevertheless, it will deliver some further benefits as it builds on the county’s excellent multi-agency working relationships, including local authorities and the business community. It is clear to me we all share a common desire and unstinting commitment to prevent crime and keep homes everywhere safe.
And that’s why I believe Suffolk benefits economically and in general from the tourism industry with such a proliferation of choice inside the county boundary. That economic benefit is huge, and I can assure all of you it is a significant part of the Suffolk Police and Crime Plan and as long as I am your Police and Crime Commissioner, I will do whatever I can to help tourism prosper. Keeping crime levels low is fundamental for the industry’s long-term success.
Published in Bury Free Press in April 2025