Alison Hernandez: Rebuilding trust and efficiency in policing

Real leadership is about making tough decisions, and when public money and confidence in policing is at stake they must be made efficiently and effectively.

It is because I have been at my post, working with my team around the clock, that on Friday I appointed former Dorset Chief Constable James Vaughan QPM as interim Chief Constable for Devon & Cornwall Police. 

Chief Constable Vaughan took up the post following a recruitment process involving His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police and Fire & Rescue Services, the College of Policing, and representatives from the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel and Cornwall Council. 

After a turbulent fortnight, since I took the decision to suspend the Acting Chief Constable, who is facing an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, Chief Cons Vaughan’s appointment will be reassuring to residents of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, as well as police officers and staff.  

CC Vaughan retired from the top job at Dorset Police in 2021 after nine years with the force. He was appointed as Chief Constable in 2018. While in the role he was the National Police Chiefs Council lead for forensic science and was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2018. 

While at Dorset he oversaw significant improvements. Having worked across both Dorset and Devon and Cornwall forces, he is known and liked across the Westcountry. And I have seen first-hand his ability to make improvements at pace. 

Those of you who follow policing matters will know that the Acting Chief Constable was in post because our substantive Chief Constable has remained suspended since July last year while facing criminal investigations into allegations about his conduct before he joined us.

Suspension is a neutral act and both individuals, like officers of all ranks in such situations, receive their regular pay until misconduct investigations are concluded. My office has no powers of investigation and therefore I have to rely on the IOPC to advise me of the severity of the misconduct and carry out any investigation.

However, I see no reason why our force should have to meet the costs of these salaries while external bodies take weeks, months or even years to conclude their investigations. 

We learned recently that the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland contacted investigating authority the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, to request additional information in relation to the inquiry into the substantive Chief Constable, so sadly it looks unlikely to be resolved any time soon.

With that in mind I have asked the Home Secretary to provide emergency funds, via a Special Grant, to my office to meet the costs of these salaries for the duration of the investigation. That way the communities I serve and care about will not miss out. I also hope that they can use the levers of power to bring investigations to a swift conclusion. 

While others may dither over decisions I will not. I have been focused on finding someone of Chief Constable’s Vaughan’s calibre to stabilise the force and drive improvements during this challenging period – and my office and I did so within a couple of weeks.

CC Vaughan wasted no time getting started, joining officers at work immediately after his swearing in ceremony. He was working over the weekend, and plans to visit key areas of the organisation over the coming days. While he leads the force, I will endeavour to ensure he has the budget to maintain record officer numbers, open more police enquiry officers and maintain our force area as one of the safest in the country.