Weapons incidents in Suffolk's schools and colleges rise

Data from Suffolk police, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, has revealed the number of times police were called to schools, colleges and universities since 2019.

During that time, reports involving weapons have risen from 52 in 2019 to 100 in 2023, while cases involving threats have jumped from 69 in 2019 to 177 in 2023. There have been 121 so far in 2024. 

A threat is defined as a "statement of intention to cause pain, injury, damage or other hostile action".

The total number of incidents at education establishments - classified where an officer attended - has dropped from 1,701 in 2019 to 1,603 in 2023. This year there have been 920 call-outs for police to education facilities. 

Tim Coulson said educating and raising awareness on the importance of safety in schools is a priority within the trust.  (Image: Unity Schools Partnership) Superintendent Janine Wratten said: “The reasons to why police are called to a school are varied, however, the actual number of criminal offences committed within education settings remain small.

“Police officers regularly visit schools in Suffolk to engage with children, highlighting the dangers to young people of carrying knives to help them understand the impact their actions and their choices can have, as well as related topics of County Lines and gangs."

The total of crimes reported to have taken place at an education establishment has dropped from 853 in 2019 to 495 so far in 2024.

Knife-related calls have risen from 51 in 2019 to 69 in 2023. 

Superintendent Janine Wratten (Image: Suffolk police) Tim Coulson, chief executive of the Unity Schools Partnerships, which runs several schools in Suffolk, said "educating and raising awareness on the importance of safety in schools" is a priority within the trust. 

A 'Keep Safe Week' is run by all schools in the trust and has proved to be a "huge success", according to Mr Coulson. 

"This year's Keep Safe week also included in-person and virtual theatre workshops, guest speakers and classroom projects," said Mr Coulson. 

"We look forward to running another week-long event next year as well as keeping this important theme high on the list all year round."

Dave Lee-Allan, executive director of the Suffolk Association of Secondary Headteachers (Image: Newsquest)

It comes following an overall drop in knife crime across the county. 

Crime figures from the 12 months to June 2024 show knife crime in Suffolk is down by 37.5%. 

Superintendent Janine Wratten said the force remains "committed to tackling knife crime and removing knives and offensive weapons before any harm is caused in our communities".

"We also carry out regular proactive operations across the county as part of our ongoing commitment to disrupt knife-based criminality, and will continue to take positive action to prevent offences by removing knives and offensive weapons before any harm is caused," she added. 

Figures show a breakdown of which areas saw the most crimes to have taken place on school grounds. 

In Ipswich, 225 cases were reported in 2019. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, this rose slightly to 239, before falling again to 221 in 2023.

So far this year in Bury St Edmunds, 65 crimes have been reported at schools - down from 107 cases in 2019.

Arrests made at a school, university or college has dropped from 115 in 2019 to 65 in 2023. Forty-one arrests have been made at education facilities so far this year. 

Dave Lee-Allan, executive director of the Suffolk Association of Secondary Headteachers, said: "Schools are working closely with a range of local and national agencies and support networks to improve the education around weapons. 

"All schools value the support of the police. Unfortunately on rare occasions visitors to the school, such as aggressive parents, behave in such a way that means schools require the support of the law. 

"The key message is that we prefer to focus on the wonderful relations we have with the vast majority of parents and students."