BOSSES at Suffolk police have bowed to pressure from a language watchdog to cut out the “ludicrous ploddledygook” in their senior officer titles.

Russell Claydon

BOSSES at Suffolk police have bowed to pressure from a language watchdog to cut out the “ludicrous ploddledygook” in their senior officer titles.

It is understood the force is to re-brand Knowledge Architecture the Department of Information, Communication and Technology, putting them in sync with their Norfolk colleagues.

But the name will live on as they are not expected to change all the department badges due to cost.

It comes after The Plain English Campaign urged them and other forces to go back to basics after criticising their unusual choice of language.

They said they are seeing too many examples of police forces being “customer-led”, having “mission statements”, giving officers “ludicrous job titles” and “pointlessly stating the blindingly obvious”.

They labelled it “ploddleygook” while the Taxpayers' Alliance questioned whether it was wasting public money.

The East Anglian Daily Times has managed to decipher some of the more arresting titles used by Suffolk Constabulary, revealing the roles behind the name aren't always as glamorous:

nHead of Citizen Focus: This role oversees the areas of the Constabulary that communicate with people who need police help, whether they are reporting an emergency to the operations room, receiving help as either victims of or witnesses to crime or need advice on crime prevention.

n Director of Criminal Justice Change: The Government is introducing new laws and policies in the criminal justice process and this post is responsible for making sure these changes are introduced in Suffolk.

n Director of Knowledge Architecture: The head of the information technology department. They have responsibility for all the Constabulary's computer and radio systems.

n Head of Protective Services: This role includes protecting children and vulnerable adults, managing sex offenders, investigating major crime (including murder and rape), investigating organised crime (including drug criminality, money laundering, firearms offences and counter terrorism), the policing of

Suffolk's roads and emergency planning.