Sixteen days into the new year, and the new Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police has set out his priorities for the force.

With more than 30 years of policing experience, Chief Constable Will Kerr was appointed by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez, and began his role on December 29. 

Chief Constable Will Kerr said: “I am deeply proud to be the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police. I have dedicated my career to serving the public and I look forward to continuing this work at the head of this organisation.

“I have purposefully spent my first few weeks meeting officers, staff, and members of the public who make up the fantastic communities of Devon, Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly.

"I have listened to, and taken onboard, their concerns and views on how they feel about their police force. A fundamental process – one of listening - which has and will continue to shape my priorities for the force.

“We're very fortunate that Devon & Cornwall Police has a number of core strengths to build on, including very strong community connections, and active community support. Having worked in policing in other parts of the UK, I know how important these critical components for good policing are.

“It is no accident that Devon and Cornwall Police has one of the lowest crime rates in the country and remains one of the safest places to live in the UK. This is down to the hard work of officers and staff, but we haven’t done this alone; our communities and partners have helped us achieve this. Thank you for that support which we do not take for granted.

“However, I am under no illusion of the scale of some of the challenges ahead – including those highlighted in the recent HMICFRS inspections - but I am confident that we can address these positively and relatively quickly, and continue to deliver the service that our communities expect and deserve.

"A very important part of my job is to ensure that my officers and staff can carry out their roles effectively, which is why I have laid out the following priorities to ensure that we are able to deliver the best policing service that we can."

These are:

• Connectivity: to improve access to, and visibility with, communities

To continue to invest in neighbourhood teams and their role in the organisation.

CC Kerr said: "We will continue to make significant improvements in how the public can contact us and access our services. We know that policing works best when we work alongside our communities using all the information and tools available to us.

"A neighbourhood-focused policing approach sustains those important relationships and delivers better policing."

• Looking after the workforce

CC Kerr said: "My plan is to invest in officer and staff well-being and creating a supportive environment which encourages delegation and innovation.

"Our police numbers have significantly increased over the past few years, and we need to invest in the investitive and leadership skills of that young, in-service workforce."

• Getting standards right

Police officers and staff perform an important and sometimes dangerous role for society, said CC Kerr.

He added: "They deserve to be looked after. We will continue to invest in, and improve, our investigative standards.

"We also need to tackle unacceptable behaviour internally in the same way. Respect and civility – both within the force and outside it – are professional requirements and lie at the heart of the policing by consent model of British policing."

CC Kerr said while these were not the only three priorities for the force, they "set the tone and standards for everything else."

“I am looking forward to getting out and about over the next few months and continue to get to know the communities that make up Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly," he added. 

Before arriving in Cornwall, CC Kerr was Deputy Chief Constable for Police Scotland with responsibility for local policing provision throughout Scotland.

He also oversaw both the criminal justice portfolio, and the 'partnership, prevention and community wellbeing' portfolio - a command of more than 16,500 officers and staff.

He was elected to one of the three European delegate posts for the Executive Committee of Interpol in November 2021, a position he will hold until November 2024. This is an influential post, involving complex global politics in an organisation consisting of 195 member countries.

CC Kerr was made an OBE in 2015 and received the Kings Policing Medal in the New Year Honours 2023.