Devon and Cornwall Police has today been moved into an enhanced
level of monitoring by the police inspectorate.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) continuously monitors the performance of all
police forces in England and Wales.
The monitoring process consists of two stages: Scan and Engage.
All police forces are in the Scan phase by default but may be
escalated to Engage.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary has decided to move
Devon and Cornwall Police into the Engage phase because:
- the force’s crime recording has deteriorated since our last
inspection. It doesn’t always record crimes against vulnerable
victims, particularly violent or behavioural crimes, and
anti-social behaviour;
- the force does not answer, or respond to, emergency or
non-emergency calls within adequate timeframes, and too many
calls are abandoned. Identification of repeat and vulnerable
callers is missed, and callers are not always given the
appropriate advice on preservation of evidence or crime
prevention; and
- the force is unable to adequately manage registered sexual
and violent offenders which means an increasing risk of further
offending may not be identified.
HMICFRS said more detail about Devon and Cornwall’s performance
would be included in its next inspection report, which is due to
be published early next year.
His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams
said:
“We move police forces into our enhanced level of monitoring,
known as Engage, when a force is not responding to our concerns,
or if it is not managing, mitigating or eradicating these
concerns. The Engage process provides additional scrutiny and
support.
“Devon and Cornwall Police has been asked to urgently produce an
improvement plan and will meet regularly with our inspectors. We
will work closely with the force to monitor its progress against
these important and necessary changes.”
