It is five years since she led a delegation of politicians and police representatives to central London to make the case for central Government to invest more in policing here in Devon and Cornwall.
Her argument was not that our society is ridden by crime – in fact it was (and still is) one of the safest parts of England and Wales.
The nature of the area and the people that our police serve, mean, however, that Devon & Cornwall Police responds to huge numbers of ‘non crime’ incidents. These can be road traffic collisions, missing people cases, managing sex offenders, safeguarding children from abuse and exploitation online and in their community along with still taking calls to help people who are mentally unwell. Tragically we have more people taking their own life than comparative police force areas.
To add to this picture, the peninsula nature of the force area means our force is more limited than others when it comes to calling for help from others. And we have more visitors than each of the police force areas apart from the Met’s.
In the year after I was first elected to post I was told by many of you that there were not enough police officers in our cities, towns and villages. The data bore this out, with Devon and Cornwall Police having a lower officer density than even other rural police force areas.
Since my delegation went to London a lot has changed. With the support of our communities through their council tax bills I embarked on a mission to recruit more police officers and open more police enquiry offices to the public.
With the central Government police uplift we were able to add rocket fuel to our recruitment programme, meaning there are now more police officers in Devon and Cornwall than there have been at any time in the force’s history.
The project to reopen police enquiry offices has seen 12 of those which closed more than a decade ago reopen and one open for the first time. Five more will reopen between now and April next year. This has transformed contact for thousands of residents, who now have the option of speaking to a friendly face in their community if they choose to.
All this has taken significant investment. Police officers need uniforms, Tasers, computers, radios and cars. Police enquiry officers need staffing. Despite this investment there is still a perception in our communities that police are not as visible and accessible as people would like.
In Torquay I have supported additional investment in highly visible hotspot policing to tackle the issues people say matter most to them, antisocial behaviour and drug abuse in the town centre which makes people feel unsafe. Here I have bolstered central Government funding by an additional £200,000. These patrols led to dozens of arrests, suppressed crime and given residents and shopkeepers a renewed confidence in policing.
My emerging Police and Crime Plan will build on this approach and provide hotspot policing for more parts of the force area, where the same issues are faced by the law-abiding and tax-paying majority of our residents.
And although progress has been made, I will continue to fight for more central Government funding for the services which make a real difference. Together we can build stronger, resilient and connected communities where everyone has a part to play.
Police urge drivers to take care with yellow warning for ice issued
Devon losing out on at least £25m of public health funding
School Closures
