Suffolk EDI Strategy

Suffolk Constabulary is committed to providing a policing service that meets the needs of everyone and all of our communities. This strategy aims to build on the progress made by our organisation to improve the service we provide. At the heart of our strategy is leadership combined with our Vision, Mission and Values.

Through the introduction of a clear and accountable strategy for delivering diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I), we will strive to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation by treating communities, staff and officers fairly, with dignity and respect, making sure that everyone has access to our services.

It is not just about protected groups but valuing human rights, extending protection to everyone who accesses our services. The Equality Act provides organisations with a framework so that they can be proactive in their approach to equality and inclusion. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires us to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.

This strategy describes how we will achieve our aims in line with the national NPCC Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy through a clear focus on three strategic themes:

•Our People
•Our Communities
•Our Partners

These provide a framework for improving performance, delivering positive equality outcomes and ensuring legal compliance. In so doing, we will deliver a fair and responsive service that engages effectively with communities and builds on our organisational values and culture.

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

Diversity is the recognition of the differences and similarities in values, cultural perspectives, attitudes, beliefs, skills, knowledge and life experiences of all the people we serve and employ.

Our similarity lies in the fact that, as people who live, work or visit Suffolk, we all want and expect a police service that is professional and fair. Our difference recognises the variety of views and perspectives to be taken into consideration as we plan and deliver a service that is fair, professional and proportionate.

Equality refers to action taken to address or redress discrimination in the services we provide or the opportunities we give. Understanding how equality or inequality affects our ability to police Suffolk will help us address, improve and
eradicate practices that create or allow disadvantage.

Ensuring equality of opportunity and access to services to all people, particularly those protected under the Equality Act, will help us make all communities more confident in our ability to keep them safe.

List of protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010:

•Age
•Disability
•Sex
•Gender reassignment
•Marriage and civil partnership
•Pregnancy and maternity
•Race
•Religion or belief
•Sexual orientation

Inclusion in its simplest form is the feeling of being included by all people and having the right to be respected and valued members of their community. In Suffolk, as an inclusive community, this means full access to resources and the promotion of equal treatment and opportunity. It means working to eliminate all forms of discrimination and values what a diverse society can offer. It means the engagement with all people in decision making processes which affect their lives.

The Policing Vision for 2025 states police forces should be more representative of the communities they serve. Legislation requires us to eliminate discrimination and advance equality of opportunity. Academic research tells us that a more diverse, equal and inclusive police force performs better and will improve credibility and legitimacy with the public it serves. Therefore, our commitment is clear that this is something that we must and will drive forward.

Leadership
The Chief Officer Team will provide clear leadership and direction to ensure our staff, partners and communities witness our personal commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.

While we recognise each chief officer has strategic ownership of different thematic areas, we recognise the need for unity in leadership in such a vital part of the service we deliver.

What are we doing and how are we working to achieve this?

WHAT? We will better understand the composition of our workforce
HOW? Through better data collection and analysis across the nine protected characteristics for diversity. We will also endeavour to understand our wider workforce skills and attributes for everyone within the organisation.

WHAT? We will ensure we are better informed on how we can continue to develop an inclusive organisational culture that promotes and embeds diversity and equality.
HOW? We will build upon our strategies of regular formal and informal engagement with our staff support networks and expand these to include all those keen to have a voice in working better together.

WHAT? We will maximise the transparency and scrutiny of our organisation to ensure we can provide explanation and evidence for our activity and as an enabler to change.
HOW? Through progress reports to the PCC and the scrutiny of performance at the PCC’s accountability and performance panel.

WHAT? We will develop our staff to better understand diversity, equality and inclusion and demonstrate the positive benefits of an inclusive culture where people, no matter what their background, feel confident and valued.HOW? Through staff surveys, equality impact assessments and training to better understand cultural and community issues.

Leadership

Support better decision making at all management levels from a wider range of voices from under represented groups across the constabularies. Feeding in to strategy and action planning.

Ensuring that inclusion and diversity are central to management decision making. Underpinning all strategic and operational decisions with the consideration of equity amongst the workforce.

Creating an anti-discriminatory culture with shared responsibility to challenge behaviour not conducive to the Constabularies' values on supporting and promoting a culture of positive DEI.

Promote equity, diversity and inclusivity through top down modelling of best practice.

Recruitment: Attraction

To highlight and subsequently break down the barriers to external recruitment for all societal groups. Developing wider pathways into policing.

To ensure the processes and procedures behind recruitment are in line with our values on equality, diversity and inclusion.

To actively attract and appeal to a diverse range of candidates to posts at all levels of the Constabularies.

Provide internal advancement and career progression opportunities for members of underrepresented groups.

Learning

Include DEI recruitment and line manager training as part of leadership schemes, ensuring those making key people decisions understand DEI best practices and standards of behaviour.

Ensure learning opportunities are available to all throughout the Constabularies, working to remove the barriers preventing the uptake of learning opportunities.

Create and foster a culture where individuals aren’t afraid to admit when they don’t know, but are willing to learn about DEI through formal and informal opportunities.

Include DEI considerations in formal discussions on standards of behaviour for staff and officers.

Wellbeing

To look to deliver reasonable adjustments for staff and officers who need them free from judgement or stigma.

Look to analyse and subsequently break down, any inclusivity and equality issues behind poor workforce wellbeing.

Ensure internal support mechanisms exist and are available for officers and staff.

Ensure external specialists or specialist organisations are available and signposted to staff.

Retention: Exit

Ensure any adverse trends in either those leaving the constabularies or going through employee relations processes are investigated further.

Ensure networks for professional guidance exist internally and are promoted widely throughout the Constabularies.

Embed a culture of psychological safety where individuals feel empowered to discuss issues at work, and feel supported when doing so.

Develop and monitor organisational policies to ensure they recognise the diversity of the workforce they represent.

What are we doing and how are we working to achieve this?

WHAT? We will increase public confidence by identifying and dealing effectively with all reported hate crimes and incidents, as well as stop and search, recognising the detrimental impact the potential loss in trust and confidence in the police can have.

HOW? Through transparency and scrutiny within community reference groups and the stop and search reference group. Publishing and explaining findings to increase confidence and legitimacy.

WHAT? We will develop effective engagement strategies that enable regular and meaningful interaction with all communities building strong relationships and inspire trust and confidence.

HOW? Through bespoke engagement plans designed around specific needs of communities and proactive engagement through a calendar of events in consultation with partner agencies.

WHAT? We will better understand the composition of our communities through better data collection, collation and analysis of community data and information across the 9 protected characteristics.

HOW? Through working with partners to create an agreed quality data set, robust analysis of performance data cognisant of negative impact on communities and by being responsive to changes in the demographic of our communities.

Our Communities

Equality data on policing performance should be analysed to identify and address areas of disproportionality and negative impact on diverse communities.

Identify and engage with diverse communities to address possible adverse perceptions of the police service. Improving satisfaction levels across all communities.

Workforce should be culturally competent to deliver meaningful and legitimate community engagement.

Undertake meaningful involvement and consultation with communities.

What are we doing and how are we working to achieve this?

WHAT? We will better understand the partnership landscape working closely with partners to put in place systems that enable the collections, collation and analysis of data and information that identifies disparity in service delivery across the nine strands of diversity.

HOW? Through the creation of an agreed joint data set understanding interdependencies in service delivery and identifying local disparities.

WHAT? We will work with our partners to develop strategies that enable more effective public service provision across our communities.

HOW? Through the creation of a shared local vision and delivery plan, engagement in partnership work targeting at risk communities and delivery of tailored support for victims and witnesses based on individual need.

WHAT? We will work with our partners to implement whole system strategies to explain, where necessary reduce and where possible eliminate disparity and enhance public service.

HOW? Analysis to identify disparity in criminal justice outcomes and partnership initiatives to deliver services informed by local community needs.

Our Partners

Engage actively with partnership work which results in ensuring those members of the community most at risk of harm, such as hate crime, are protected and safeguarded.

Work with Criminal Justice, local authority and third sector partners to support victims and witnesses by providing improved services tailored to their specific needs.

i.Throughout Suffolk Constabulary

Our Strategic Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board

A robust governance structure will hold the organisation to account by overseeing the delivery of this strategy and our commitment to improve diversity and equality performance. A joint internal and separate local Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Boards chaired by the Deputy Chief Constables provides the strategic governance and framework for diversity, equality and inclusion.
The membership of the group will include diversity leads, unions and staff associations, staff support network leads, HR and local policing representatives. This will ensure that we are able to drive activity and hold key stakeholders to account. The board meets at least four times a year and force action plans, initiatives and activities will be monitored and scrutinised at these meetings. The DE&I Board will be accountable to the People Board, which is chaired by the DCC who has the People portfolio lead.

Our Command Management Teams

Each Command or Department will be expected to feed into the overall DE&I action plan. Delivery of overall actions will be monitored by the strategic Diversity, Equality and Inclusion board/s. Each Command or Department are responsible for delivery and performance management within their service areas.

Mental Health

Within our workplace health, safety and wellbeing department the role of force lead for Mental Health has responsibility to coordinate, develop and improve policing provisions to vulnerable members of our community in conjunction with other partners across health, social care, the voluntary sector and other policing organisations. Processes now exist to identify the most vulnerable and frequent users of the service, so that support and intervention can be achieved to assist the individual before a point of crises.

The Constabulary continues to ensure that training in relation to mental health is ongoing, particularly to assist frontline staff to increase their awareness of mental ill health. The organisation has established a number of dementia champions.

Our Internal Staff Support Networks

The staff support associations are fundamental the driving diversity, equality and inclusion by supporting and developing the skills and talents of their members. They will provide opportunities for their membership to use their knowledge and expertise to help to develop greater equality and representation across our organisation. They also have a vital part to play in guiding the organisation DE&I activity and acting as a critical friend in this regard.

Their roles include:

• Canvassing the views of staff to identify issues pertinent to each under represented group.
• The Staff Support Network Steering Group (SSNSG) hold regular meetings and support force meetings where appropriate.
• Providing advice in relation to matters affecting their under represented group, including reviewing of policies and procedures, where appropriate.
• Providing a network of support for members.
• Linking to regional and national support networks.
• Monthly meetings with the Assistant Chief Constable.

ii.Through our Partners and Communities

Neighbourhood Policing

Neighbourhood Policing is the bedrock to policing in Suffolk.
The communities of Suffolk are an integral part of policing. Our ability to perform is delivered through mutual respect and understanding.

We recognise that our communities are diverse, not only through geography but also in their unique make up and characteristics. Each of these communities requires policing in a way that develops mutual understanding, building trust and confidence.

Neighbourhood Partnership Teams

NPT are made up of subject matter experts, who provide advice and guidance to frontline officers and staff on priority workstreams such as diversity & hate crime, ASB and crime reduction. We utilise evidence-based policing and engage
nationally to develop bespoke working practices which can be delivered
through our Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams

Made up of both police officers and staff, work closely with the NPTs to deliver on local, community-based policing and collaborative problem solving. Engagement officers will identify and interact with key members of the community to support and foster relationships building up trust and confidence.

Positive Action

The Constabulary has Positive Action Recruitment Advisors whose main purposes are to provide support for under represented communities in policing, this support is in the form of the below:

• Education: Workshops and Seminars
• Targeted Support
• Recruitment and Progression

Establishing the aforementioned relationships will play a vital part in identifying and subsequently challenging barriers and misconceptions that prevent the police force being an employer of choice for applicants of under represented groups. By proactively taking these positive steps we will contribute to the formulation of a police service that is reflective of the communities of Suffolk.

The Constabulary has a separate Positive Action strategy outlining the Positive Action focus of both Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies, this can be viewed on the Constabulary websites.

Hate Crime

The Suffolk Hate Crime Network is a forum for statutory and non-statutory organisations to work together to provide a collective response to tackling hate crime in the county. The group has a county wide overview and representatives from a wide range of community groups and local authorities attend. This provides an opportunity for individuals and communities affected by hate crime to hold us to account and to highlight any emerging issues.

Our Diverse Communities Advisor works closely with diverse and vulnerable communities, acting as a central point of contact for community representative and internal staff, as well as providing additional support to victims of hate crime.

Positive Action refers to measures under the Equality Act 2010 to promote equal opportunity. Not everybody starts from the same position when applying for a job, so our positive action team work hard to ensure those from underrepresented backgrounds have routes into policing. Suffolk Constabulary is committed to creating an environment that is not only equal but equitable.Our positive action team will achieve this by:

• Positive Action community engagement events
• Pre-application and pre-promotion workshops and seminars
• Mentoring and coaching support for external and internal candidates
• Induction and employment lifecycle signposting and support

The below diversity profile highlights the self-declared make up of Suffolk Constabulary’s workforce as captured at the end of 2022. The Constabulary is committed to providing a pathway into policing, a pathway to progression and retention support for those from underrepresented groups in our communities. The Constabulary understands the challenges faced across policing, however is focused on improving both the data collection and understanding of the wider workforce about the challenges colleagues and individuals from underrepresented groups face.

Adopting the shared College of Policing competencies and values framework enables for robust recruitment, retention and support for officers and staff who share these with the constabulary. All officers and staff of the constabulary are expected to adhere to the below values, whilst delivering essential services and work.

We have a wide range of staff networks in place to support our employees, including the Black Police Association, the Christian Police Association and the Gay Police Association.

• Suffolk Ethnic Police Association
• Suffolk Police Federation
• Suffolk Disability and Carers Network
• Norfolk & Suffolk LGBT Police Network
• International Police Association
• Police Care UK
• Suffolk Association for Women in Policing
• National Police Autism Association
• Police Pagan Association
• Christian Police Association

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary collaborate and therefore decided to have joint equality objectives so both forces have worked together, along with Norfolk OPCC, in creating three joint equality objectives that each organisation will sign up to and take ownership of.

The three objectives are as follows;

• Make Norfolk and Suffolk’s police services and Norfolk OPCC more inclusive organisations, which are representative of the communities they serve.
• Increase the transparency of all three organisations concerning equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Work collaboratively to provide high-quality, evidence based services to our communities, engaging with them on issues that are important to them.

These objectives are captured in the overall DE&I Action Plan, where the Constabulary can work to achieve against these.

Our overall vision is to serve our communities and protect them from harm. We do this by policing our area with local teams. Suffolk Constabulary has a culturally diverse community; this strategy describes our commitment to the issues of equality, diversity and human rights that we face when policing the needs and concerns of those local communities and outlines our aims for the coming years.

While we are pleased with the progress we have made to date, we are not complacent and recognise that there is still more to be done. In developing this strategy, we have listened to the communities we serve and the people we work with. We will continue to listen, learn and strive to improve in the way we respond to any issues that are raised. It is only by getting these things right that we will continue to improve trust and confidence in Suffolk Constabulary.