His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) has identified sufficient Devon & Cornwall Police performance improvements to allow the closure of its previously-identified concern about the time the force takes to answer 101 calls.
HMICFRS said it had found that Devon & Cornwall Police has improved how it runs its control room, where telephone calls from the public are answered, and continues to improve its non-emergency 101 call abandonment rate.
It said that despite the need for further improvements, the force had shown enough signs of progress for the inspectorate to close this cause for concern.
In a letter to Devon & Cornwall Police, HMICFRS also provided an update on two other areas of concern identified for enhanced monitoring, under which the force was placed under in October 2022 following a critical assessment of its performance.
The inspectorate said that, despite some improvements in how the force records all crime and violent crime, it still needed to improve how it records rape offences and antisocial behaviour.
It also said that Devon & Cornwall Police had improved its investigation standards but still had more work to do in this area.
Devon & Cornwall Police welcomed the HMICFRS decision.
Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell said: “I am pleased that HMICFRS has recognised the significant improvements the Force has made over the past 12 months in answering 999 and 101 calls which we have maintained throughout our busy summer period.”
An HMICFRS inspection earlier this year also found poor Devon & Cornwall Police performance in managing offenders and leadership and force management.
