Devon and Cornwall Police placed in special measures

Devon and Cornwall Police will be subject to an enhanced degree of monitoring by the police inspectorate after an inspection flagged up concerns.

There are six other police forces currently in special measures, including the Met and Gloucestershire.

Further information about the force's performance will be released early next year. Devon and Cornwall have said they 'accept' the findings and the force added that improvements have already begun.

There were three area which the watchdog said needed improvements: response to emergency calls, recording of crime and management of registered sex and violent offenders.

The report's key findings:

-         Devon and Cornwall Police did not answer or respond to emergency or non-emergency calls within adequate timeframes and too many calls were abandoned without being answered.

-         Devon and Cornwall Police sometimes failed to record crimes against vulnerable victims, particularly violent or behavioural crimes, and anti-social behaviour.

-         The force's recording of crimes had deteriorated in standards since the last inspection.

-         Vulnerable people and repeat callers were not always identified and members of the public were not always given the appropriate advice on preservation of evidence or crime prevention.

-         It was also found that Devon and Cornwall Police were unable to adequately manage registered sexual and violent offenders, which the police inspectorate said led to increased risk of further offending.

Jim Colwell is the Temporary Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police. In response to the report he said: "We fully accept the findings of the HMICFRS inspection.

"I understand that these findings may cause concern in our communities and we are committed to delivering improvements.

"We have already commenced action in all three of these areas following the inspectorate's initial inspection in January.

"Whilst there are improvements we must make; I am extremely proud that Devon and Cornwall remain the second safest counties in the country and this is testament to the hard work of all our officers, staff and volunteers."

Wendy Williams is His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary. She 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."

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