Devon & Cornwall Police deputy chief constable Jim Colwell has received an 18-month written misconduct warning as he returns to full duties following his suspension in November last year.
He was suspended by Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez following alleged professional standards breaches, which she referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In May the IOPC determined that Jim Colwell had “no case to answer in respect of either the alleged use of a work issue mobile phone to exchange personal messages without a policing purpose, or his conduct concerning the handling of a force disciplinary matter”.
It cleared him of gross misconduct and any professional standards breach, but decided that he had a case to answer for misconduct in respect of a potential breach of the notifiable associations policy which Devon & Cornwall Police shares with Dorset Police.
This is intended to ensure that “no doubt is cast on the integrity” of either force by mitigating “a risk of some staff associating with inappropriate persons, groups or organisations”.
The IOPC said there was “sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable misconduct tribunal could find that his actions breached standards of professional behaviour for order and instructions, and conduct” and referred the issue to a future disciplinary hearing, which was held last week.
It confirmed on Tuesday that Jim Colwell had breached the policy and that he had been sanctioned with a written warning which would remain in force for eighteen months from the date of the misconduct tribunal hearing.
Left to right: deputy chief constable Jim Colwell, previous chief constable Will Kerr and interim chief constable James Vaughan. Photos: Devon & Cornwall Police.
At the time of his suspension Jim Colwell was acting as Devon & Cornwall Police chief constable following the suspension of the force’s previous chief constable Will Kerr in July 2023.
An investigation into allegations of sexual offences, which he denies, had been under way for several months at the time of his suspension.
It was begun by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, in which Will Kerr served for 27 years, before being taken over by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in June 2023.
In May last year the investigation was passed to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, which confirmed in April that the criminal investigation had been dropped.
However, the IOPC resumed its investigation into misconduct allegations against him, which had been paused pending the outcome of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland investigation. He remained suspended while the IOPC conducted its investigation.
This week, the day after the IOPC delivered the outcome of the allegations against Jim Colwell, Will Kerr announced his early retirement.
In a statement issued by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, he said: “After nearly 36 years of public service, this is not the way I would have chosen to retire but the force, and communities across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, deserve stable leadership in policing.”
Alison Hernandez said she was “frustrated at the amount of time this investigation has taken and the way that cross-jurisdictional issues have lengthened the process during separate investigations by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and now the IOPC”.
She also confirmed that interim Devon & Cornwall Police chief constable James Vaughan, who was appointed to lead the force following Jim Colwell’s suspension in November last year, would continue in post until a “new recruitment process is complete”.
The force’s third chief constable in eighteen months, James Vaughan joined Devon & Cornwall Police following his 2021 retirement from Dorset Police where he spent nine years, the final three as chief constable.
Earlier this year, the police and crime commissioner’s office confirmed that the cost of paying the three chief constables employed by Devon & Cornwall Police was then £63,913 per month, equating to £767,000 a year, including allowances and pension costs.
At yesterday’s meeting of Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Panel, at which councillors from across the peninsula meet quarterly to “support and challenge” the police and crime commissioner, Alison Hernandez was asked about her plans for appointing a new chief constable to the force.
East Devon councillor John Loudoun, referring to comments she had made during a television interview the previous evening about appointing a permanent chief constable in the autumn, asked why she was not considering appointing one now.
She said she was “not in a rush to remove James” but added: “He is a retired chief constable who’s come back to assist so he does deserve a retirement at some point, he won’t be here for the long-term”.
Alison Hernandez was also unwilling to answer West Devon council leader Mandy Ewings and Cornwall councillor Julian German when they asked whether Will Kerr had received a “golden handshake”.
She said: “Mr Kerr and I have mutually agreed an arrangement for him to leave and I’ve done it in a pragmatic and rational way”.
She added: “The information will be published in a statement of accounts next year if people wish to go and have a look at that, but it’s not something for me to discuss today”.
