Swaffham Crime Rate September 2024 | Monthly Statistics

Swaffham’s crime profile in September 2024 reveals a notable shift in the balance between property and violent crime, with violent offences accounting for 35.6% of the total reported crimes—slightly ahead of property crimes, which make up 31.1%. The overall crime rate of 5.2 per 1,000 residents places the area 32.5% below the UK average, a consistent trend that may reflect the area’s character as a relatively stable, low-density built-up area within Breckland. Violence and sexual offences remain the most frequently reported category, followed by anti-social behaviour and public order violations. This distribution suggests a focus on interpersonal conflicts and community-level disruptions rather than economic or property-driven crime, a pattern often seen in smaller, more tightly knit communities. Seasonal factors may also play a role: September, with its back-to-school and university freshers’ week, could contribute to increased social interactions in public spaces, influencing the higher proportion of violent crime. However, the absence of significant spikes in property-related offences—such as burglary or vehicle crime—contrasts with patterns typically observed in urban centres, where seasonal transitions often correlate with higher theft rates. The relatively low crime rate compared to the UK average may also be linked to Swaffham’s rural-adjacent location, where community cohesion and limited commercial activity can act as natural deterrents to certain types of crime.

September 2024 marked a sharp increase in public order offences, which rose by 200% from 2 to 6 incidents—a stark contrast to the 58.3% decrease in criminal damage and arson, which fell from 12 to 5. This shift may reflect changing patterns of social behaviour as the month progressed, with public spaces becoming more active following the end of the summer holidays. Meanwhile, vehicle crime and other theft both doubled from zero to one and three incidents respectively, suggesting potential vulnerabilities in unmonitored parking areas or increased opportunities for opportunistic theft. Violent crime, though not explicitly listed in the month-on-month changes, remains the largest category at 16 incidents, contributing to the area’s overall 35.6% share of such offences—a rate 31% below the UK average. This discrepancy is particularly pronounced in anti-social behaviour, which at 0.9 per 1,000 residents is 23% below the UK figure of 1.2 per 1,000. Such comparisons highlight Swaffham’s relative safety in categories typically driven by urban density, though the public order increase underscores the need for community-focused interventions during transitional periods like September.

Swaffham’s crime rate in September 2024 fell by 8.2% from 5.6 per 1,000 in August, marking a continued downward trend that aligns with the area’s long-term position below the UK average. On a daily basis, the area recorded an average of two crimes per day—a figure that, while low, may still concern residents given the concentrated nature of incidents in specific categories like violence and public order. Over the course of the month, one reported crime occurred for roughly every 194 residents, a monthly exposure rate that is significantly lower than the UK average, which typically sees one crime for every 130 residents. This statistic, when contextualised with Swaffham’s population of 8,710, suggests that while crime is not entirely absent, its frequency is sufficiently low to avoid overwhelming the local community. The population-scaled perspective also reveals that the area’s most significant departures from the UK average are in categories where local conditions may naturally suppress crime: anti-social behaviour, vehicle crime, and burglary all fall well below national figures, due to the area’s smaller scale and lower levels of commercial or social activity compared to larger urban centres.