Update - results of period of intensified enforcement in Ipswich

A period of intensified enforcement and activity by officers in Ipswich to target serious crime and violence saw a total of 101 arrests made with weapons including a sword and an axe seized.

Utilising resources from across the county and working with partner agencies, Between 23 September and 17 November there was an increased focus on county lines and related youth gang violence.

During this time there were 101 arrests. This includes 33 occasions where ‘drug offence’, was listed as the most serious crime (if there was more than one offence per arrest) and nine occasions where ‘violence offence’ was listed as the most serious offence*.

In this period nine people were convicted while a further twelve people were charged and remanded in custody.

A total of 25 warrants were executed, with 156 home invasion checks carried out. Also known as cuckooing, this is a practice where people take over a person's home and use the property to facilitate exploitation and/or criminal activity.

Weapons seized include knives, a Samurai-style sword, an axe, a stun gun, a knuckle duster and a crossbow.

Superintendent Andy Martin said: “This wider period of activity was put in place in addition to our day-to-day work to tackle criminal activity including drug dealing, gangs and violence.

“We have seen some excellent results with dangerous individuals identified, arrested and in many cases, charged.

“It is important we have these intensified periods, whether longer operations such as this, or weeks of action such as the recent county lines intensification week.

“Through these we can prioritise our resources to specifically target those who seek to prosper through criminal activity and think little of the impact on our communities.

“This does not mean outside of these periods the work stops and we continue to robustly target those who seek to harm our communities the most. The results in the Ipswich area over the past couple of years shows the success that sustained pressure placed on those involved in these sorts of crimes can have, and the effectiveness of a joint approach with key partners”

In the southern policing area, which includes Ipswich, violence involving knife crime has reduced by 27% (non-injury) and 28.2% (with injury) from April 2023-March 2024 in comparison to the previous year.

The figures for violence, where knives are not involved, have also dropped in the south, with a 6.5% drop for incidents involving injury and an 8.2% reduction where there was no injury reported.  

Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “I am pleased to see this dynamic, targeted approach having such a positive impact in our county town.

“I hope this pro-active enforcement sends out a clear message that criminals are not welcome anywhere Suffolk.

“The constabulary cannot deal with these issues alone, so I am very pleased to see this multi-agency approach being adopted to tackle criminal activity. Suffolk is a relatively safe place to live and we need to keep working together to keep it that way.”

If you suspect drug, gang or criminal activity is taking place in your area you can report this via the website www.suffolk.police.uk/contact-us/report-something/report-crime, call 101, or alternatively you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers to report anonymously – either online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.

In an emergency you should always call 999.

*The arrests may have included multiple offences - the figures show the most serious offence per arrest.