Performance and Measurement

Summary

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary covers 4,000 square miles and serves a population of
1.6 million. The area has a huge tourist industry, welcoming 12 million visitors annually.
The force comprises four territorial commands and 16 departments. Three core strategic priorities – leadership, citizen focus and standard setting – are to be targeted during the current financial year. 

The establishment of the serious, organised and specialist crime branch and the re-design of the major crime investigation team have improved the force’s capacity to tackle organised criminality and the investigation of serious crimes.

The Local Resilience Forum is now chaired at senior level, providing strong leadership across the counties, and the major incident plan is one of only two in the entire South West region, with the Force Community Risk Register seen as national best practice.
Over the past year, the force has responded well to unprecedented levels of snowfall on Bodmin Moor, which left thousands of motorists stranded. The flash flooding in Boscastle also showcased the response capability of the force.

Devon and Cornwall’s disaster victim recovery team, part of the national disaster victim identification team, was deployed to Thailand following the tsunami disaster and received much praise at national level. More recently, they were the first UK team placed on standby by the Home Office to deploy to the ferry disaster in Egypt.

One of the force’s major challenges in the coming year will be moving forward with the Force Development Programme, a dynamic programme of work aimed at enabling the force to respond better to all aspects of policing demand.

For further information see the full baseline assessment.