THE confirmation of more than 100 police officers being brought into frontline roles across Devon and Cornwall has been welcomed by Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez.

Details of how this will be achieved are due to be shared by Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable James Vaughan at a meeting of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel today, November 21, in Plymouth.

Mr Vaughan says 71 officers will have joined existing patrol teams, by the end of the year, followed by an additional 50 by the end of March 2026.

This strengthening of the front line is being achieved in three ways:

  • Redeployment of experienced officers
  • Transferring officers from other forces
  • Recruitment of new officers

The force is also increasing the strength of its neighbourhood teams with the addition of 50 police officers in neighbourhood policing roles and the ongoing recruitment of 50 new police community support officers (PCSOs).

Mr Vaughan said: “Since I became Chief Constable, I have been committed to building the numbers of officers working in frontline roles across Devon and Cornwall to help the Police and Crime Commissioner deliver her Police and Crime Plan objectives, and build our neighbourhood policing capacity as part of the government’s aim to increase community focused policing.

“That is now being achieved through the reviews and changes that have, at times, been difficult but necessary to improve frontline resilience.

“However, it is vital that we don’t stand still.

“We know that once we have stabilised our patrol numbers we will need to continue to maintain our frontline strength across the force.

“Therefore, we are doing additional work that will help us to ensure that our resources are in the right place both now and in the future.

“We will be continuing to look for recruits over the coming months, particularly to the roles of police officers and PCSOs, and I would encourage anyone who would like to help us keep our beautiful counties safe to come forward and join us.”

Commissioner Hernandez, who has long been calling for more officers to be deployed in frontline roles, said: “The one thing people repeatedly tell me is that they want to see more police on our streets to make them feel safer and deter crimes from taking place.

“I am delighted that the force’s plans to strengthen frontline policing are now coming to fruition under the leadership of the Chief Constable.

“I will continue to monitor how the force maintains policing numbers, particularly foot patrols in our communities.”

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