Source · HMICFRS

PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Suffolk Constabulary

3 October 2023 PEEL Force Inspection 1 causes for concern 11 areas for improvement

PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for Suffolk Constabulary

Applicable forces

Causes for concern

Concern Open The constabulary needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency and non-emergency calls There are capacity and capability issues within the CCR while new staff are trained. The constabulary has experienced recruitment difficulties but is hopeful that all vacancies will be filled and new staff trained by the autumn. However, should it meet its recruitment target, the current CCR isn’t big enough to accommodate all staff. The constabulary should have been aware of and considered the capacity of the room when plans were first made to recruit more staff. It has been slow to look for alternative arrangements to resolve this issue. The constabulary needs to improve the time it takes to answer emergency calls for service. In the year ending 31 March 2023, Suffolk Constabulary answered 76.6 percent of its 999 calls within 10 seconds. This was lower than the standard expected of forces in England and Wales of answering 90 percent of 999 calls within 10 seconds. Failing to answer calls quickly enough can mean losing both public confidence and investigative opportunities. Suffolk Constabulary

Areas for improvement

AFI The constabulary needs to improve the time it takes to record crimes In January 2020, we published our Crime Data Integrity report for Suffolk Constabulary, in which we found that just under 3 quarters of crimes were recorded within 24 hours. We said that this was an area for improvement and that the constabulary should immediately make sure that it records more crimes within 24 hours, as the national crime recording standard requires. The constabulary has made little improvement and is still recording about 3 quarters of crimes within 24 hours. For rape crimes in 2020 we found that just under 9 out of 10 were recorded within 24 hours; in 2023 this had dropped to just over 8 out of 10 crimes recorded within 24 hours. Recording crime without delay helps make sure that victims receive the support they require, as well as establishing an effective investigation. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary should quickly implement the findings of its review of occupational health unit services, in order that the benefits offered both to the workforce and the organisation can be accelerated There is some support available to those in specialist roles. For example, the multi-agency safeguarding hubs team receives clinical supervision. The safeguarding investigation unit receives psychological screening surveys, which are mandated and assessed by occupational health services. And there is mandatory counselling for those working in the internet child abuse investigation team and management of sexual offenders and violent offenders. However, there needs to be consistent support for all those working in roles that pose a high risk to their well-being. The constabulary has identified all those in specialist roles and it is developing a specialist roles policy in order to provide additional support to those people. Its prompt implementation will make sure the benefits to both the workforce and the organisation are obtained quickly. The constabulary is currently carrying out a review of its occupational health service. It is a joint service between Suffolk and Norfolk. Officers told us that they have experienced delays in access to the service, but force data is showing that timeliness has improved. The constabulary told us that for January to March 2023, there was a wait of approximately 12 days between referral and appointment. We were made aware of recruitment and retention issues in relation to professional and clinical staff. The prompt adoption of the findings of the review that is underway is expected to provide the needed improvements, to benefit both the workforce and the organisation. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary continues to support the families of new recruits to help them understand the issues of living with a police officer The constabulary continues to support the families of new recruits to help them understand the issues of living with a police officer. It has built on the good practice highlighted in our last inspection report, where we found that families were invited to online evening sessions where issues of living with police officers were discussed. The constabulary has since extended this service to make sure families of new recruits feel well supported. It has created a family well-being support pack for new starters, containing information on topics such as sleep and nutrition, how to support mental health, and top tips for living with a shift worker. This pack is given to all new police officers and staff. The constabulary has also produced a fun cartoon booklet, Red Robber Raid, to involve the young children of student officers and help them understand the work of the police. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary should assure itself that it has effective governance of its strategic plans. This will make sure that all force plans have clear ownership and it is aware of how its plans are progressing The constabulary needs to make sure that it has sufficient oversight of force plans so it can monitor their progress to make sure they are realised. This would also provide the constabulary with an awareness and clear understanding of any issues that arise so that appropriate action can be taken. For example, during our 2020/21 inspection, we found the constabulary hadn’t created a central database to record workforce skills and capabilities but was intending to develop its own bespoke skills database. Unfortunately, during our most recent inspection, we found that despite having a plan to create this database, the constabulary had made little progress and still doesn’t fully understand the capability and capacity of its workforce. Until recently the constabulary didn’t have an ICT strategy and there was no governance structure in place to oversee its ICT requirement. Given the importance of digital, data and technology in providing an effective and efficient police service, a robust strategic governance structure would have identified and addressed this gap much earlier. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI Suffolk Constabulary doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims The constabulary isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. It has low numbers of crimes that are solved following investigations. It needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. Table 1: Proportion of victim-based crimes assigned specified crime outcomes by Suffolk Constabulary compared with forces in England and Wales in the year ending 31 December 2022 Outcome types Suffolk rate England and Wales rate 1 ‘Charged / summonsed’ 6.6% 4.6% 2 and 3 ‘Caution – youths’ and ‘Caution – adults’ 1.0% 0.7% 8: ‘Community resolutions’ 1.6% 1.4% 9 ‘Not in the public interest (Crown Prosecution Service)’ 0.0% 0.0% 10 and 21 ‘Prosecution not in the public interest (police decision)’ 0.7% 0.8% 14 ‘Evidential difficulties (suspect not identified; victim doesn’t support further action)’ 4.4% 5.6% 15 ‘Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim supports action)’ 16.3% 11.7% 16 ‘Evidential difficulties (suspect identified; victim doesn’t support further action)’ 23.1% 21.9% 17 ‘Prosecution time limit expired’ 0.8% 0.3% 18 ‘Investigation complete – no suspect identified’ 30.4% 40.9% 20 ‘Action taken by another body’ 6.5% 1.4% 22 ‘ iversionary, educational or intervention activity’ 0.5% 0.4% Note: England and Wales excludes City of London data Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary should make sure that there are processes in place to monitor protective orders and make sure that breaches are prioritised to safeguard the victim The constabulary has focused on making sure officers have a good understanding of protective orders. It has brought in subject matter experts to provide training. As a result, it has seen improvements in the use of protective orders. However, the constabulary doesn’t monitor breaches of protective orders. This may reduce the impact of orders or fail to prevent reoffending. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary needs to make sure that it has secondary review processes for all appropriate domestic abuse incidents. It should develop a performance framework that shows risk levels, and that harm reduction activity is in place for all cases Previously the domestic abuse team, located within the multi-agency safeguarding hub, carried out the secondary risk assessments to make sure the correct grading of domestic abuse cases: high, medium or standard, was given. This process was to make sure victims were referred to the right partners, such as social services, and safeguarding actions were in line with the risk levels identified. In October 2022, the constabulary introduced a new process. This removed secondary specialist risk assessment from the domestic abuse team. The constabulary introduced a new domestic abuse research document for attending officers and a secondary risk process by sergeants for medium and high-risk cases. There is currently no secondary risk assessment in place for standard risk. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary should prioritise the use of warrants and arrest as enforcement methods that provide greater opportunities for victim safeguarding and the prevention of further offending We found the constabulary used consent searches and voluntary attendance when warrants and arrest powers would have been more appropriate in the internet child abuse investigation team. We found cases where suspects were invited for voluntary interview when children were present in the house and safeguarding should have been considered. When officers proactively use arrest and bail, this allows the constabulary to impose police bail conditions as safeguarding measures to protect the public. Relying on consent to search and voluntary attendance can result in evidential opportunities or safeguarding opportunities being missed. The constabulary needs to assure itself that it is securing the relevant devices and capturing all the evidence of an offence. The constabulary told us that one reason for the use of voluntary attendance/searches is the delay in obtaining a warrant by the court. Senior officers told us that they were unaware of difficulties obtaining warrants, therefore no discussions had been held on a strategic level locally with the courts to try to resolve this. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The internet child abuse investigation team should make sure that any backlog of work is subject to an intelligence refresh process. This should be conducted at a frequency that is sufficient to determine if there has been any change in risk level during the intervening period prior to enforcement action As part of our case file review, we didn’t find any evidence that confirmed that intelligence checks had been refreshed by the internet child abuse investigation team when there was a delay in enforcement activity. This is required in order to establish whether there is an increase or decrease in risk to the suspect, victim or any other person at risk. It will also highlight the need for more timely enforcement action. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary should develop a consistent performance framework that helps it to understand the context of its backlogs in active risk management system (ARMS) risk assessments, risk management plans and supervisory reviews. This means understanding a breakdown of risk and how far outside nationally set timescales the work is The constabulary’s performance reporting and data collection within its management of sexual offenders and violent offenders department needs improvement. The constabulary is unable to easily identify or supply details of backlogs of work in management of sexual offenders and violent offenders. As each individual officer self-regulates their work, a manager who needs information about the backlogs has to search manually through systems. We found evidence of managers doing this in only one of three teams. Monthly meetings are held with senior leaders to discuss general overview of performance, and data is provided at bi-monthly performance meetings. Despite this, there has been no attempt to tackle the overdue work, particularly the high-risk cases. The constabulary told us that in January 2023 there were 70 overdue visits to registered sex offenders. The oldest high-risk case was five months overdue. During this five-month period, the constabulary didn’t carry out any other checks to make sure the registered sex offender was complying with their conditions. This could be rectified by adopting a better process to monitor these areas. Suffolk Constabulary

AFI The constabulary could do more to demonstrate that it is using the data and learning available to inform action, producing clear, focused and evidence-based strategies and action plans and making sure progress is frequently monitored We found that there was generally effective governance and data sharing in relation to areas such as well-being, for example, the people board and the comprehensive data pack submitted to their meeting. However, the constabulary hasn’t demonstrated how it is using the information to identify patterns and trends and to make decisions to create improvements in these areas. The constabulary could do more to demonstrate that it is using the information to learn and to inform actions. It would benefit from more focused strategies and action plans in this area. These could be in relation to the progression of underrepresented groups, and both an inclusivity and a retention plan for new recruits. Action plans should be clear, focused and evidence-based. Progress on actions should be frequently reviewed and updated. Innovative practice Suffolk Constabulary