OPINION: Pride in Suffolk force as I move on from chief constable role

It has been a great privilege to be your Chief Constable and I would like to thank you for your support.

It is a wonderful county and I’m immensely proud of the work our officers and staff do to keep our communities safe.

Last month it was great to have the opportunity to speak about that work to Policing Minister Kit Malthouse MP when he visited Ipswich.

I was able to discuss the challenges we face and the initiatives we are putting in place to meet them. Much of the media attention was centred on our trailblazing Kestrel project (sending teams to communities with a specific need at a specific time).

However, I was also delighted to introduce two of our newer officers - Hannah Barrell and Megan Groome - as well, while hearing more about the Home Office campaign for more diversity in recruitment and that the drive for more officers in the force and on the street is reaping dividends.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse chats to officers during his visit to Ipswich. (Image: Archant 2022)

One of the things I value most about Suffolk Constabulary is the wide range of experience and personalities we have among our staff.

It is this which helps to make us special, and I have pride in knowing they are making a real difference when it comes to meeting the challenges we face head on.

It is also a source of pride to see young, in-service officers like Hannah and Megan chatting so confidently to the public, the media, and a senior minister about the job.

It was not lost on me how well they represented themselves, their colleagues, and the constabulary.

As I said during Neighbourhood Policing Week, our officers are part of the heart of the community, not on the edge of it.

I hope Hannah and Megan go on to have successful careers and I hope the Minister was impressed by what he saw during his visit. I know I was.

The constabulary has worked really hard on the recruitment front recently. I am really pleased with how we have made the most of the opportunities to increase the number of police officers and police staff that we have to make sure we continue to be able to deal well with the things that matter most to the public and provide the best service possible.

The Government’s National Police Uplift Programme provided an additional 20,000 officers from which Suffolk Constabulary would receive 179 over three years with this year being the final year.

107 additional officers were recruited in the first two years and we are on track to recruit an additional 72 in this financial year to achieve our full allocation.

Furthermore, together with the Police and Crime Commissioner and following his decision to increase the policing element of the council tax in each of the same three years, this has created in the region of 48 additional police officers and 65 members of police staff.

It goes without saying that I totally recognise and appreciate the impact on taxpayers but this growth is essential to ensure we can keep up with the demands and expectations and continue to be an efficient and effective police service to deal with modern day policing challenges.

It is really important to the constabulary that we continue to support good growth and increased prosperity across Suffolk and make the county a safe place to live, work, travel, and invest. We constantly assess and analyse our calls for service to ensure we have the right capacity and capability at all times.

Broadly speaking, the number of incidents that we attend is around 100,000 a year but that number is increasing year on year and our analysis is showing the number of emergencies is going up. Over half of the total number of incidents we attend are graded as requiring a quick time response.

Recently I chaired a really productive meeting with a number of senior officers and managers to look at new ways of working and using technology to make sure we are set up to police Suffolk really well in the future.

We recognise the need to constantly look at how we can best support the public and keep you safe. To help us make well informed decisions regarding how best to use our resources and skills the constabulary has invested in software that allows us to produce forecasts of what our demand might look like as we think about strategically planning over the coming years.

Adult protection, child protection, domestic abuse, and anti-social behaviour are the areas where demand is increasing the most.

I hope this explains why increasing the numbers of officers and staff in Suffolk Constabulary has been necessary.

Some of this additionality has been in the form of uniformed police officers but, based on demand, we have had to increase the numbers of detectives and other specialists as well as increasing the number of operators in our contact and control room to ensure calls from the public are responded to efficiently and effectively.

Whilst policing is challenging, I am hugely proud of the great work carried out by officers, staff, and volunteers day in day out across Suffolk. In 2021 HM Inspectorate of Constabularies and Fire and Rescue (HMICFRS) carried out a wide-ranging Inspection of the Constabulary.

They will be reporting their findings this summer and, whilst there will be some areas for improvement, HMICFRS recognised and identified a lot of great work we are doing. This report will be published by HMICFRS in a few weeks’ time.

Whilst policing is challenging it’s also immensely rewarding. Our recruitment lines are open for police officers and there are more police staff roles in various departments at various locations on our website.

Finally, one important landmark in policing this month is the 20th anniversary of Police Community Support Officers (PSCOs) being introduced nationally.

Over the past two decades PCSOs have provided a vital link to our community. I know local people welcome their visibility, their in-depth knowledge of local areas and their approachability.

A big thank you from me to you in supporting them in their work and if you want to know which PCSOs work in your area, just go to the ‘Your area’ section of the Suffolk police website.