In this PolicingTV interview, Rachel Kearton, Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary, reflects on her four years leading the force as she prepares to retire from policing. Rachel looks back on the changes introduced during her tenure, including a new local policing model that strengthened community engagement, sharpened response policing and allowed specialist investigators to focus more effectively on serious crime.
The conversation also explores what surprised Rachel most about becoming Chief Constable, why the role is fundamentally different from being a deputy, and the importance of leadership as a team effort. She discusses police reform, the barriers that still exist around progression into chief officer roles, and why policing needs a more flexible approach to career breaks, secondments, part-time work and people leaving the service before later returning.
Key takeaways
- Rachel describes her time as Suffolk Chief Constable as the best job of her career.
- Suffolk’s local policing model helped improve community confidence and clarify frontline responsibilities.
- Rachel says becoming Chief Constable is not simply “more of the same” compared with being a deputy.
- The Chief Constable role requires more external engagement, longer-term thinking and organisational leadership.
- Rachel believes policing is too focused on the number of forces before defining what reform is actually meant to achieve.
- She argues that barriers preventing strong candidates from applying for chief officer roles need to be removed.
- Career breaks, secondments and time outside policing should be seen as development rather than lack of commitment.
- Rachel says policing needs to make it easier for people to leave, gain experience and return with pride.
Chapters
00:29 – Rachel Kearton reflects on four years as Chief
01:51 – The best job of her career
02:30 – How local policing changed Suffolk
03:40 – What surprised her about being Chief Constable
08:16 – Is police reform focusing on the wrong question?
09:36 – Why the number of forces may not matter most
11:33 – Why more people should be able to become Chiefs
13:21 – The barriers to leaving and returning
17:27 – What comes next after policing?
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