Famous for horse racing, Suffolk is a safe bet for career development. But the force is already tackling complex issues and planning for the future.

Suffolk Constabulary has started a journey of change to modernise how it works to meet the demands of modern society.

The mantra driving the overhaul is “Getting stronger, working smarter”.

What sparked the move was the PEEL review by HM Inspectorate that concluded that although the force is good at dealing with crime and had a strong ethical culture, it needed to move with the times.  The force needed to make improvements.

The positives include excellent partnerships with its neighbouring force Norfolk on issues like roads policing and it is clear that the community wants – and needs – its officers to be visible. Suffolk says there are no plans at this stage to close any Suffolk stations.

But the force needs to improve some aspects of how it plans for the future.

HM Inspectorate says: “The force prevents crime and tackles anti-social behaviour well. It works closely with partners to ensure that it safeguards victims. But it needs to improve the way it investigates crime through better training and more effective supervision.

“The force operates efficiently, but needs a clear and detailed future plan to make its intended significant long-term improvements to its service. It will need to improve its understanding of the demands upon it and the capabilities of its workforce to achieve this.

“The force continues to uphold an ethical culture and promote standards of professional behaviour well. However, I am concerned that it does not consistently comply with legislation when dealing with detainees in custody. It also needs to strengthen governance of its use of force in these facilities.”

It has successfully addressed previous areas of concern: how it investigates crime, tackles serious and organised crime and deals with anti-social behaviour that we identified in our 2016 effectiveness inspection.

“In our 2019 inspection, we found that complex and serious crime is investigated well by specialist staff, but the force needs to improve how it investigates some less complex crime. It is already working to improve the quality of these investigations but needs to make sure that these are consistently well-supervised, and that staff have the skills to consistently conduct high-quality investigations. This will help investigations become of a consistently higher standard and focus on giving victims a satisfactory outcome,” the Inspectorate says.

“The force is good at protecting vulnerable people. It understands the ways in which the population it serves are vulnerable and seeks out hidden harm and looks for vulnerability from the moment a person contacts the police. It responds promptly to incidents involving vulnerable people and makes good use of powers such as Clare’s Law to protect vulnerable people.”

The Inspectorate’s verdict was: Rated as GOOD

“Suffolk is a small force in terms of officer numbers but is still making savings while policing a growing and ageing population. The force polices extensive rural and coastal areas as well as vibrant urban centres whilst responding to changing demands for services.”

Read more HERE

On the job:

Suffolk Constabulary employs approximately 1,100 police officers, 940 members of police staff, and 240 Special Constables.

Police headquarters is in Martlesham Heath

Salary range as of 2019: £17,799 to £65,076 at Band K

Read more HERE

The top team:

Steve Jupp, Chief Constable, @CCSuffolkPolice

Appointed January 2019. He joined Suffolk Constabulary in 2015 from Nottinghamshire Police where, in his role as Assistant Chief Constable, he was responsible for Crime Investigation and Reduction. His policing career has had a particular focus on tackling serious and organised crime and has seen him occupy key senior posts including that of Detective Chief Superintendent at West Midlands Police.  He has also served with the Metropolitan Police Service.

Tim Passmore (Cons) @TimSPCC is the Police and Crime Commissioner, elected 2012. His priorities are HERE

Key issues:

Protecting vulnerable people – particularly older people – knife crime, gang activity and County Lines. Specialist work includes modern slavery and vehicle crime linked to Felixstowe port.

Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore says: “Suffolk has one of the smallest budgets of all police forces and one of the smallest workforces. Despite this our communities are served by committed and experienced police officers and police staff.”

Spot check:

Suffolk is a Mindful employer, actively promoting mental health awareness at work.

They say:

“We share a lot of support office functions such as HR, ICT, Finance, Estates, Procurement. Also - in terms of operational - Roads policing, Major Investigations Team, cyber-crime are some examples of joint working, although this is not all. We are currently undertaking our annual budget setting process in line with the Comprehensive Spending Review.”