Photo: Adrian S Pye · CC BY-SA 2.0What is recorded in Hales, and why there is no grade
Annual rates stand at 22.2 violent and sexual offences and 10.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. On crimes police recorded inside Hales’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it has no Safety Grade. The town has fewer than 1,000 residents, and Safety is graded only from 1,000, where a handful of incidents no longer moves the rate a long way.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Hales runs highest on violence & sexual offences (40 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 21 | 40 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 7 | 13.3 | 3.2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 3.8 | 0 |
| Public order | not graded | 1 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1 | 1.9 | 5.3 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Crime in Hales per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 0 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
23 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 6 the year before
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month).
Crime in the places around Hales
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hales | 525 | 22.2 | 10.8 | — |
| Loddon | 2,247 | 38.6 | 10.5 | C− |
| Chedgrave | 1,053 | 13.3 | 6 | A− |
| Thurlton | 1,145 | 16.3 | 3.8 | A− |
| Ditchingham | 1,997 | 13.4 | 4.2 | A |
| Freethorpe | 1,050 | 15.2 | 6.7 | A− |
| Bungay | 5,012 | 26.6 | 13.6 | C+ |
| Beccles | 9,807 | 29.1 | 13.8 | C |
Hales records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Chedgrave, 1.9 miles away, records 13.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Hales’s 22.2.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Hales sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Hales
Is Hales safe?
Police recorded 22.2 violent and sexual offences and 10.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Hales’s built-up area).
Is crime going up in Hales?
Police recorded 23 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 6 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Hales?
Violence & sexual offences: 21 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (7) and possession of weapons (2), with 1 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Hales compare with Gorleston-on-Sea?
Gorleston-on-Sea records 39.2 violent and sexual offences and 14.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Hales’s 22.2 and 10.8, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.