PEEL 2025–27: An inspection of Suffolk Constabulary

Within three months, the constabulary should:
• introduce systems to assess, manage and accurately record the risk of harm to victims throughout the constabulary safeguarding referral processes;
• develop effective governance and performance data to understand and manage the risk of harm to vulnerable people that it actions through its safeguarding referrals;
• make sure it has the capacity and capability to support its domestic safeguarding referral processes to assess risk accurately to signpost people to the right support; and
• make sure its safeguarding systems and processes support the provision of police-held information and intelligence to inform appropriate allocation of investigations.

Within three months, Suffolk Constabulary should:
• introduce an in-person handover process between outgoing and incoming custody personnel that allows for clarification of detainee risk information between shifts, in line with APP; and
• introduce a quality assurance process for the handover procedure so that the constabulary can assure itself that risk is sufficiently managed.

The constabulary needs to make sure that governance arrangements appropriately identify and resolve areas of risk and under-performance

The constabulary should assure itself that it is appropriately identifying and resolving occasions when leadership behaviours fall below expected standards

The constabulary should review and strengthen its approach to risk management

The constabulary needs to make sure its professional development review process is effective

The constabulary should continue to improve its occupational health provision, especially for those in high-risk roles

The constabulary needs to improve how it records and governs its use of force

The constabulary needs to safeguard children who are subject to use of force or stop and search

The constabulary needs to expand and refresh its external scrutiny panel

The constabulary needs to make sure it collects accurate data to allow it to understand how fairly stop and search and use of force is being used

The constabulary needs to develop how it monitors when neighbourhood teams are visible in their communities

The constabulary needs to effectively supervise all outstanding sources of demand

The constabulary needs to reduce the number of non-emergency calls that callers abandon because they aren’t answered

The constabulary needs to use a structured risk assessment to manage delayed attendance

The constabulary needs to improve supervisory reviews of investigations, including investigation plans and finalisation

The constabulary needs to gather victims’ views, so they are considered before finalising an investigation

The constabulary should improve how it monitors preventative orders

The constabulary should make sure that governance arrangements and systems are in place to record, issue and implement organisational learning from statutory reviews

The constabulary needs to make sure it refers only appropriate cases to the multi-agency risk assessment conference

The constabulary needs to adequately train investigators and call handlers to respond to fraud

The constabulary needs to improve how it responds to victims and protects the community from fraud

The constabulary should make sure that it has effective governance and quality assurance processes to manage detainees’ safety and well-being

The constabulary should make sure reviews of detention are carried out and recorded in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984