Suffolk Constabulary sees significant uplift in digital contact, as 999 maintains strong performance

Suffolk Constabulary has released its 2025 Contact and Control Room (CCR) figures, which indicates a strong performance across both emergency and non-emergency communication, and a continued commitment to ensure the public can access policing quickly and effectively.

Emergency contact performance has remained strong, with more than 115,000 calls made to 999 last year – a slight increase to the year before - and more than 91% of these were answered within the nationally expected timeframe. This is consistent with the nearly 91% achieved in 2024.

Digital contact has shown the most notable growth, with a 39% increase in Live Chat enquiries in 2025 compared with the year before.

Live Chat is not a crime-reporting tool; instead, it is designed for non-emergency enquiries and offers a convenient way for the public to ask for advice, seek guidance or obtain updates to existing incidents.

Almost 19,200 Live Chat conversations were answered last year, up from just under 13,800 in 2024, and around 6,640 in 2023 when the service was still in a soft-launch phase.

The rise in Live Chat enquiries has been supported by the introduction of the constabulary’s Digital Public Contact Engagement Desk, or ‘Digi Desk’, which was launched in March 2024.

Funded through the Police & Crime Commissioner’s precept investment, the Digi Desk forms a key part of the constabulary’s transformation process to modernise services, improve accessibility and strengthen public confidence.

Live Chat operates every day between 8am and 9:30pm and enquiries in 2025 were responded to within an average of nine seconds, with 92% of surveyed users saying they would recommend the service.

Alongside Live Chat, the Digi Desk team also triages online forms from the force website, manages emails from partner agencies and monitors comments and direct messages on the constabulary’s Facebook and X pages.

Engagement with the constabulary’s website and social media channels has continued to grow, with online reports from the public increasing to almost 17,200 in 2025, compared with just over 10,800 in 2024.

This shift towards digital communication is reflected in the gradual reduction in 101 call volumes, which have dropped by 2.3% since 2023, indicating a deliberate move towards online options for non-urgent matters.

As part of the wider transformation programme, the constabulary also introduced additional digital services to support vulnerable people. In spring 2024, the Domestic Abuse Video Response Team (DAVR) was introduced, giving victims of domestic abuse the option of speaking remotely with a police officer via a secure video link. 

This allows for initial details and evidence to be gathered quickly, providing a prompt and discreet response for those who may not feel safe or able to speak by phone.

Detective Superintendent Matt Bodmer said: “The development of the Digi Desk and investment in online services have made contacting Suffolk police for non-urgent matters more flexible and accessible for the public.

“Our online channels are there to complement traditional telephone contact, giving our communities more choice in how they report concerns, ask for advice or share information, at a time and place that is convenient for them.

“As a constabulary we remain committed to ensuring our contact services are efficient, easy to use and accessible to everyone. The figures from 2025 reflects both the evolving expectations of the public and our determination to deliver modern and responsive services while maintaining high standards in emergency call handling.”

Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “It is very pleasing to see the significant investment in the control room is paying dividends.  I was clear when I increased the policing precept back in 2022/23 I expected to see a marked improvement in the 101 service.  I’m pleased to report there has been a continued improvement over these past four years when an additional 27 call-takers joined the control room.

 “How we engage with each other has transformed dramatically over the past decade, with many of us using digital media rather than talking over the phone. The Digi Desk is now firmly established and is allowing the public to engage with the Constabulary for non-emergency enquiries in the format that suits them best.

"The very positive feedback from those using the Digi-desk and the live-chat clearly demonstrate that the precept investment from our increased council tax really does make a difference to the police service we receive."