Suffolk Police has been told it must make urgent improvements across multiple operational areas—including its handling of domestic abuse cases—following a inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
The police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) report concluded that the constabulary was inadequate at safeguarding children and adults and providing a safe custody environment. Leadership, public treatment, and fraud management were also rated as requiring improvement.
Inspectors found significant issues with how the force manages risk in domestic abuse investigations, noting:
- A lack of prompt safeguarding risk assessments and information disclosures
- No automated process to escalate cases to high risk following multiple repeat calls
- 41% of 616 high-risk domestic abuse cases were downgraded in the year to 31 January 2026 without sufficient scrutiny
- Inappropriately downgraded cases were subsequently reassigned to non-accredited investigators
- A previous backlog in processing the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (Clare’s Law)
The inspection also revealed that risk information was frequently missed during custody handovers, exacerbated by 12-hour shift patterns, and calculated that the constabulary likely under-recorded its use of force by 5,909 incidents.
HMICFRS noted that the force performed adequately in investigating crime and responding to the public, and praised its work in keeping levels of antisocial behaviour among the lowest in England.
Suffolk Police confirmed it is reviewing its current processes and developing operational changes to address the risk management and safeguarding failures identified in the report.
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