Devon & Cornwall Police out of special measures after three years

Devon and Cornwall Police have been taken out of “special measures” after nearly three years.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has announced that the force has been officially discharged from its enhanced phase of monitoring known as Engage.

HMICFRS found the force to be failing in the management of violent and sexual offenders (MOSOVO), ability to answer emergency and non-emergency calls and how crime is recorded in October 2022 adding investigating crime as a cause of concern in its 2024 inspection.

But HM chief inspector of constabulary Sir Andy Cooke, in a letter to the chief constable James Vaughan and police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez, has recognised “good progress” made since then and says he is reassured by the plans that the force has in place to continue making improvements.

Chief constable James Vaughan said it was “testament to the hard work of officers and staff right across the force who have worked together to deliver a sustainably improved service for our communities”.

“Getting to this point has not been easy. The concerns raised by HMICFRS were serious and rightly deserved immediate and sustained actions,” he said.

“We will not be complacent and we recognise that we still have work to do in crime recording and our investigation standards to ensure that more offenders are brought to justice and victims receive the service they rightly deserve.”

Improvements in the 101 call abandonment rate as well as the answering of emergency calls have been acknowledged. 

A performance report to the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel last week revealed that in the 12 months to May 2025 94.9 per cent of 999 calls were answered within the service standard of 10 seconds, 88 per cent of 101 calls were answered within 10 minutes and abandonment rate had reduced from 37.4 per cent to 12.3 per cent.

The force was formally discharged from concerns regarding the management of MOSOVO in January 2023 ensuring that sex offenders are managed effectively and in line with national guidance.

When it came to crime recording, HMICFRS said officers now understood the principles of crime recording better, which had helped improve the service they give to victims. 

For investigation standards, the Inspectorate said the force had  an increased number of investigation plans and supervisory reviews.

New tools to help improve the service the force offers to victims and the introduction of an investigation academy to help further develop the skills of investigators were noted.

However progress will continue to be assessed in these two areas.

Alison Hernandez said: “This is good news, and a recognition of the hard work and commitment made by police officers and staff under the strong and experienced leadership of chief constable James Vaughan.  

“This does not mean the force can afford to be complacent and I look forward to working with Devon & Cornwall Police over the coming months and years to continue to drive improvements.” 

Last December Ms Hernandez said James Vaughan, who was appointed at that time to head the police for an interim period while the substantive chief constable Will Kerr and acting chief constable Jim Colwell were suspended, was the man to help the force out of special measures.

She said he had “turned around the performance on recording crime” at Devon and Cornwall Police several years ago when he served as deputy chief constable from 2016 to 2018. 

CC Vaughan will remain at the helm until a replacement for Will Kerr, who has now retired, is recruited in the autumn.

She told the police and crime panel on Friday that she was in no rush to replace him.

Jim Colwell has recently returned to duties as deputy chief constable.