[3] The Chief Constable is currently Rachel Kearton,[4] and the Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore (Conservative).

Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Beccles and Orford formed their own borough police forces in 1836 following the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which required local councils to appoint paid constable to keep the peace.

[10] In 1889 Southwold Borough Police merged with East Suffolk Constabulary, following the Local Government Act 1888.

In 2019, the UK Prime Minister announced that 20,000 new police officers would be recruited as part of a national uplift programme.

[26] Suffolk is home to a number of major Army, RAF and USAF military bases, of which it works closely with.

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.

It collaborates on areas including Procurement, Training, Firearms, Driver Management, Digital Assets, Vetting and Forensics, along with ERSOU.

[29] The police and Suffolk Fire & Rescue share a number of joint stations, allowing for closer collaboration between the services.

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.

[31][32] 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.

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