Chief Constable blog - Feb 2025

Firstly, I am pleased to confirm that Suffolk remains in the top three counties in England and Wales where people are least likely to be victims of crime, according to figures recently released by the Office of National Statistics. 

The total recorded crime covering the 12 months to the end of September 2024 show that there were 58.7 crimes per 1000 people, a decrease of 5.1% compared to the previous 12 months. Nationally, there was a reduction in crime of 2.7% for England and Wales.

The figures saw drops in a variety of crime types including knife crime (26.2%), robbery (17.6%), drug offences (-13.1%), public order, offences relating to violence, stalking and harassment, possession of weapons, criminal damage and vehicle crime, compared to the previous 12-month period. 

The latest figures show continued improvement as just over four years ago, Suffolk was in 13th position in terms of its crime levels.  These figures do continue to demonstrate how we are working to keep the people of Suffolk safe and to solve crime and catch criminals.  We have a hugely dedicated and committed workforce with our officers and staff, and we also need to acknowledge all the amazing support and assistance we receive from the public which is absolutely vital.

A long-term project to improve and transform the Constabulary’s Contact and Control Room (CCR) is seeing significant improvements to help tackle demand.  In the year ending 30 September 2024, 91% of emergency calls were answered within 10 seconds, with an average wait time of 6 seconds. By comparison, in the previous 12 months the figure was 79%.

Meanwhile, also year ending September 2024, just 16% of 101 calls were abandoned as more members of the public opt for online services to contact police, with an average wait time of less than three minutes. This is down from 43% from the corresponding 12-month period.

Over the past 18 months we have recruited additional call-takers, who are dual-trained to work in the dispatch teams that deploy officers to incidents, opened more online channels for people to report crime for non-emergency issues, and implemented the phasing in of the Right Care Right Person approach which I have previously written about. 

The CCR has also progressed other initiatives to alleviate the pressures call takers face, whilst embracing digital technology to ensure members of the public who need the police can promptly and effectively, access help and support. 

A new service that uses digital technology to support victims of domestic abuse was introduced last spring. The Domestic Abuse Video Response Team which provides victims with the option of speaking with a police officer remotely, and promptly, via a video link to obtain details of the incident and initial evidence.  This is now being further supported as we have launched a three-month trial using Enhanced Video Response with the aim of expanding video appointment capability outside that which is already offered. 

Elsewhere, a Digital Public Contact Engagement Desk was brought into the Contact & Control Room last year to make sure non-emergency online communications are handled better, faster and at a time to suit the public.   

We have made huge strides in the CCR to modernise the service and make it more responsive to the needs of the public, and in particular, to victims, witnesses and everyone who needs our support or help. 

This is an ongoing journey of transformation and I am grateful for the public’s support as we continue to improve and provide a police service to be proud of.

I’d like to mention a couple of important visits we have had recently – earlier this month the Minister of State (Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire) Dame Diana Johnson visited Ipswich to build an understanding of retail and business-related crime in the county. Following an introduction from me and the Police & Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore, the minister took part in a round table discussion with policing colleagues, Jack Abbott MP and leaders from the Business Improvement District and Ipswich Borough Council.

The day culminated with visits to businesses in the town centre allowing the minister to speak first-hand with those directly impacted by retail related crime. It isn’t often that we get the opportunity to present the strength of our partnerships and community to senior government officials, so I am pleased to have been able to collectively take part in this engagement. 

A couple of weeks later I had the pleasure of hosting representatives from the team that oversees the Police Race Action Plan nationally. The Police Race Action Plan was introduced to assist in building trust within our black communities whilst building a police service that is anti-racist.

Chief Constable Rachel Kearton and Deputy Chief Constable Rob Jones with members of the national Police Race Action Plan team.

I am proud of the work we have done, and continue to do, to address racial disparities in policing but acknowledge we are only at the start of a journey. We will need the energy, drive and commitment to listen, understand and develop responses and systems to better serve the needs of all of our communities.

This was an opportunity to showcase the progress Suffolk continues to make with our own plan, but also identify areas for development through the sharing of ideas. The Race Action Plan focuses on four key areas; internal culture & inclusivity, use of police powers, community engagement, and not under-protected from victimisation.

Each of these workstreams has an allocated local lead who separately had time with the national team to talk about their subject and learn of progress being made nationally. The Suffolk Ethnic Police Association led in-depth conversations with the team, whilst our very own Independent Scrutiny and Advisory Panel was also given the opportunity to present their findings after a solid first ten months of involvement.  Initial feedback from the visit would suggest that we are on the right path, and I am confident that we have the right relationships with partners and communities for us to remain courageous in professionally developing our plan with compassion.