Suffolk Constabulary

Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 761,000 in a mostly rural area of 1,466 square miles (3,796 km2), including 49 miles of coastline and the Southern part of the Broads National Park. Headquartered in Martlesham, Suffolk is responsible for Ipswich, Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe.[1][2] As of March 2023, the force has a strength of approximately 1,399 police officers, 116 special constables, 917 police staff/designated officers, 33 PCSO's and 123 police support volunteers.[3] The Chief Constable is currently Rachel Kearton,[4] and the Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore (Conservative).

Suffolk Constabulary
Common nameSuffolk Police
Agency overview
Formed1967
Preceding agencies
  • East Suffolk Constabulary
  • West Suffolk Constabulary
  • Ipswich Borough Police
Employees
  • 1,399 police officers
  • 33 PCSOs
  • 917 police staff
Volunteers
  • 116 special constables
  • 123 police support volunteers
Annual budget£157 million (2023 - 2024)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionSuffolk, England, UK
Map of police area
Size1,466 square miles (3,796 km2)
Population761,000
Legal jurisdictionEngland & Wales
Constituting instrument
General nature
Operational structure
Overviewed by
HeadquartersMartlesham
Constables
  • 1,399 police officers
  • 116 special constables
PCSOs36
Police and Crime Commissioner responsible
Agency executive
Website
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/

Organisation

Suffolk Constabulary is responsible for policing Suffolk's 4 major settlements, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds and Felixstowe.[1][2]

It is also responsible for Suffolk's 49 miles of coastline, along with many rivers, including the southern Broads National Park. It also has responsibility for the Port of Felixstowe, the largest shipping container port in Britain.[5]

There are 1,106 police constables (PC's) in Suffolk (with the remainder being officers of the rank sergeant and above). This accounts for 145 police constables per 100,000 population. 302 officers are assigned to neighbourhood policing whilst 357 are assigned to incident/response management.[6]

Sizewell Nuclear Power Stations

In conjunction with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Suffolk is responsible for Sizewell A & B, on the East Suffolk coastline.[7]

Military Bases

Suffolk is home to a number of major Army, RAF and USAF military bases, of which it works closely with. These include Wattisham Air Station, Mildenhall and Lakenheath. A man breached security during an incident in 2021 at Mildenhall, which Suffolk Police helped to quickly resolve.[8]

Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU)

Created in 2010, ERSOU is funded by the seven police forces that make up the eastern region, with Bedfordshire Police being the lead force. It is primarily responsible for the combined Regional Organised Crime Unit and Counter Terrorism Policing.[9]

Collaboration

Norfolk and Suffolk Collaboration

Norfolk Constabulary and Suffolk Constabulary have collaborated numerous services together since 2010. An extensive programme of collaborative work has already delivered a number of joint units and departments in areas such as Major Investigations, Protective Services, Custody, Transport, HR, Finance and ICT. In 2020/21, £20 million was saved due to the collaboration for Suffolk.[10]

7 Force / Eastern Region Collaboration

The 7 Force Collaboration Programme includes Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent police forces.  This strategic collaboration programme was established in 2015 to develop and implement successful collaborative solutions to protect the frontline local delivery of policing. It collaborates on areas including Procurement, Training, Firearms, Driver Management, Digital Assets, Vetting and Forensics, along with ERSOU.[11]

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service

The police and Suffolk Fire & Rescue share a number of joint stations, allowing for closer collaboration between the services. A number of the joint stations are also host to the East of England Ambulance Service.[12]

History
WWII pass from East Suffolk Constabulary allowing Bungay-living Miss Daphne Raikes, the Beccles & District War Memorial Hospital physiotherapist, to visit patients in the local wartime-protected Suffolk coastal area.

19th and 20th century

The force formed from the merger of West Suffolk Constabulary and East Suffolk Constabulary. Those forces had previously been merged in 1869 and then split again in 1899. The most recent merger took place in 1967, which also saw the Ipswich Borough Police merged.[13]

21st century

In 2006, Suffolk Constabulary merged the role of traffic warden with that of PCSO.

Proposals announced by the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke in 2006 would have seen the force merge with neighbouring forces Norfolk Constabulary and Cambridgeshire Constabulary to form a strategic police force for East Anglia.[14] However, the proposals were later abandoned.

In 2019, the UK Prime Minister announced that 20,000 new police officers would be recruited as part of a national uplift programme. Suffolk was allocated 179 of those new officers, which would bring the force strength up to more than 1,400 police officers by 2023.[15][16][17]

In 2020, Suffolk recruited more female officers than male officers, being one of only eight forces in the UK to achieve this.[18]

In 2022, Suffolk begun training recruits under the new Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF), which sees a partnership of training with Anglia Ruskin University.[19]

Chief constables

Fast Justice (TV documentary series)

In 2020, Suffolk's Sentinel Teams were at the focus of a 10 part television series which aired on Dave. The Sentinel teams use state of the art Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology which provides instant access to a network of cameras across the country, and they drive high performance, customised BMWs. The Sentinel teams provide enhanced coverage of Suffolk's road network to proactively disrupt serious and organised criminal activity as well as to increase police visibility. Sentinel officers also support the force's response policing and Safer Neighbourhood Teams, and offer additional operational options, making use of a wide range of proactive policing tactics and technology.[25][26]

Notable investigations
Main article: Ipswich serial murders

Suffolk Constabulary gained widespread attention in December 2006, when it began to investigate the murder of five women working as prostitutes in the Ipswich area.[27] The murders generated media interest both nationally and internationally.[28][29][30] The inquiry was the largest mounted by Suffolk Police in its history.[31]

The disappearance of Corrie McKeague launched another unusually large investigation, involving officers from other constabularies and civilian volunteers.[32]

Governance and budget

Since 2012, the force has been overseen by Tim Passmore (Conservative) who is the Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner.[33] Since 2022, the chief constable is Rachel Kearton.[23]

Suffolk Constabulary's budget for 2023/2024 is £157 million, with £88 million being government funded and £69 million precept (council tax) funded). [34]

See also

References
  1. "Police & Crime Plan". Suffolk PCC. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  2. "Coastal management » East Suffolk Council". eastsuffolk.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  3. "Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  4. "Our people". www.suffolk.police.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  5. "Ever Ace: World's largest cargo ship unloading in UK port". BBC News. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  6. "Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  7. Chambers, Sarah (13 January 2005). "Armed police set for nuclear stations". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  8. Hunt, Jane (20 December 2021). "Man shot at 12 times in 'suspected terrorist incident' at Suffolk RAF base". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. "About us | ERSOU". ersou.police.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  10. "Norfolk & Suffolk Constabularies Collaboration". Suffolk PCC. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  11. "Seven Force Strategic Collaboration Programme". Suffolk PCC. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  12. "Fire & Rescue Service Collaboration". Suffolk PCC. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  13. WEST SUFFOLK POLICE FORCE. <corpname>West Suffolk Police Force</corpname>. 1844–1966.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. "Police forces 'to be cut to 24'". BBC News. 20 March 2006. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  15. "Suffolk police will recruit 72 new officers amid 'visibility' concerns". East Anglian Daily Times. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  16. "Suffolk Police officer recruits will expand force to 1,400". BBC News. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  17. "Recruitment of 20,000 new police officers to begin 'within weeks'". BBC News. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  18. Steward, Michael (29 October 2021). "Suffolk police hired more women than men last year, figures reveal". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  19. "Suffolk Chief welcomes first recruits under new degree programme". suffolk.police.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  20. "Chief Police Officers". House of Commons. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  21. Goldwater, William H.; Gough, Michael (1998). "Freedom of Information request". Science. 282 (5395): 1825–1827. Bibcode:1998Sci...282.1823G. doi:10.1126/science.282.5395.1823e. PMID 9874633. S2CID 41329267. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  22. "Suffolk Police chief constable retires after 'year of sick leave'". BBC News. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  23. "Our people". suffolk.police.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  24. "Our people". www.suffolk.police.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  25. "Proactive crime-fighting team feature in new TV series". suffolk.police.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  26. Potter, Tom (16 April 2021). "Sergeant reveals what's in store for new TV show with Suffolk police team". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  27. "Suffolk killer will die in prison". BBC News. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  28. "One of serial killer's five victims was pregnant". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  29. "British Police close to solving murders of prostitutes". Zee News. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  30. "British Police Identify 5th Victim of Serial Prostitute Killer". Fox News. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  31. Summers, Chris (13 December 2006). "The task facing vice murders squads". BBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  32. Steward, Michael (22 September 2018). "Mother of missing Corrie McKeague says she is ready to start searching again". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  33. "Elections 2021: Tim Passmore re-elected Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner". East Anglian Daily Times. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  34. "Police funding for England and Wales 2015 to 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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