Chief Constable's column - August

Every community across the country will have been affected in some way by the violent disorder we have seen in recent weeks.  I want to reassure the public that a united and robust policing response was put in place across the country to keep communities safe.  

All forces were requested not only to increase the number of specialist resources in their local area, but to contribute to regional reserves, coordinated nationally.  Suffolk, as with all police forces, mobilised specialist public order resources in support of the policing operations that were dealing with the violence and disorder, whilst ensuring that we remained able to respond quickly and effectively to all local community and policing needs.

These were clearly not peaceful protests and those that took part and orchestrating them used the events in Southport to further their agenda using unnecessary violence. Violent disorder is a serious offence which often comes with a lengthy jail term so be assured offences are being taken seriously and have full support of our criminal justice partners to do this.

Nationally, work is going on around the clock to do this and those involved are being, and will continue to be, brought to justice. The people involved in this criminality do not represent the views of our communities and it has been heartening to see people coming together to support each other and their local forces. Despite the challenging nature of these incidents, I have been impressed and proud of the policing family for its unity and determination through a period that has seen officers’ lives disrupted through significant shift changes in the face of increasing violence and hostilities from a small minority. My personal thanks go to my officers and their families for their resilience and flexibility during this difficult time.

Once again, the Latitude festival came to Suffolk over the last weekend of July, fortunately this year the weather was good, and rain didn’t dampen the music and other arts on show.  The planning for the policing operation started many months before and, whilst we are well-practiced at this, every aspect of our role is carefully considered.

Experienced public order, public safety commanders led the operation and worked closely with the organiser’s security coordinators and festival control. This partnership working is so important in putting on safe events of this size and the long-standing relationship built up over many years has again this year led to few offences being reported and only a small number of arrests being made. We had eight special constables that supported the policing operation at Latitude this year.

Talking of Specials, I was so pleased to learn that one of our Special Constables, Kyle Scott, was recently recognised for his bravery by being nominated for a Police Federation of England and Wales national bravery award.  In March last year Kyle risked his life to save an unresponsive drowning woman from the sea at Felixstowe in freezing conditions, wading into the water up to his waist wearing his full police kit to reach her and then dragging her out of the sea.  Kyle, along with members of the public, provided first aid to the female, and also had to cut off the woman's saturated clothing to prevent hypothermia.  His bravery earned him a place in history by being the first Special ever to be solely recognised for such a national nomination.  My congratulations to Kyle.

Operation Gram was the name of the policing operation that was in place from 15 to 25 July in response to the ‘peace camp’ that took place outside the USAF Lakenheath airbase. This was one of the largest policing operations the county has seen for many years. Policing of protests is a challenging and often difficult issue for policing, but our response to this event was measured and, whilst facilitating peaceful protest, prevented any serious disruption to the base or to the local community. Again, close cooperation with the United Staes Air Force was an important part of our planning and implementation.

As summer moves quickly on we again focus our attention on the forthcoming football season and Ipswich now playing in the Premier League. The first home match was on Saturday 17 August against Liverpool, and we couldn’t have seen a bigger club visit us for the first game. Our planning and preparation is always well advanced and I know we will continue to police the matches and the local communities as positively and effectively as we have done over the last few seasons.  I do wish Ipswich Town all the very best for this their first season in the Premiership for over 20 years.

Finally, the PCC Tim Passmore and I are also hosting a series of public meetings across the county through September and October, with an on-line meeting in November.

The meetings are aimed at updating residents on policing matters and give an opportunity to ask questions and comment about the service they receive. The full list of dates can be found on the PCC website and on the police website below.

Chief & PCC host meetings to discuss policing in Suffolk | Suffolk Constabulary