Report finds police force needs to urgently improve

It concluded Devon and Cornwall Police was inadequate in many areas

Devon and Cornwall Police says it will continue to make improvements after a report found it was inadequate in many areas.

The inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services concluded three distinct areas where the force needs to make improvements. They are: how crime is recorded, its ability to answer emergency and non-emergency calls and the management of registered sexual and violent offenders.

Since the inspection, Devon and Cornwall Police say a number of improvements have been made, including boosting resources in the areas of concern, reviewing policies and procedures as well as working with other forces to identify best practice in the areas identified by the report.

The newly appointed chief constable Will Kerr said: "I am under no illusion that the areas highlighted by the Inspectorate will be concerning to our communities, but I am confident that we have made significant improvements to the areas identified and progress continues to be made at pace.

“For crime recording, a new governance structure is now in place to scrutinise our compliance with national standards, and we have invested in resources for our auditing capability. We have also introduced a new system, which will improve our crime data integrity and we have already seen an overall uplift in compliance.

“For answering emergency and non-emergency calls, we have recently introduced a triage service, which means that the caller speaks to a person who first identifies what assistance the caller requires. This has allowed us to focus on improving our response to 999 calls, with 90 per cent being answered within 10 seconds in January 2023. This is a five per cent increase since the inspection was carried out. Working with our Police and Crime Commissioner, we have also re-opened six front desks to improve public access to our service. We anticipate further improvements in how the public can contact us with the introduction of the Single Online Home website. We know how important this service is to the public and are committed to doing better.

“The other area identified by the Inspectorate was the management of sexual or violent offenders. We have already increased the number of supervisors in the unit to ensure workloads are managed in line with national guidance and our neighbourhood policing teams are also now attending visits.”

In the report, the inspectorate highlighted several areas where the force continues to perform well, including understanding the needs and expectations of local communities with a focus on vulnerability and working effectively with partners locally.

Mr Kerr continued: “We continue to work in an extremely challenging environment with many significant demands placed on us, but we are determined to do all we can to ensure that Devon and Cornwall remains one of the safest places in the country to live and visit. I am reassured also that public confidence in us remains high at 80 per cent and compares very favourably in comparison to other force’s survey results. We do not take that public confidence for granted and are working very hard to address the three specified areas of concern.

“We have made some very positive steps and continue to make significant progress. I am confident that my officers, staff and volunteers will deliver the service improvements required across our communities.”