Commissioner's findings to be shared to boost accountability

A NEW accountability board to ensure Devon and Cornwall Police is held to account met last month to scrutinise key performance areas.

- by STAFF REPORTER

The issues it covered were services available to detainees while in custody and whether policing strategies are aligned with national priorities.

The Commissioner's Accountability Board, hosted monthly by police and crime commissioner (PCC) Alison Hernandez, met on May 14.

She has now issued a 'judgement of assurance' to indicate whether improvement plans are required or not. It includes details of how she reached her decision on two specific areas of constabulary performance that were scrutinised.

Ms Hernandez has committed to sharing her levels of judgement with the public following each meeting in the hope it will increase transparency in policing and the criminal justice system.

The first area considered at last month's meeting was the force's plans and delivery of the strategic policing requirement (SPR) which sets out national threats which, in the Home Secretary's view, are the biggest threat to public safety. It guides PCCs when issuing police and crime plans.