The Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Alison Hernandez this week has begun her latest tour of police stations as part of the third phase of her project to re-open front desks across Devon and Cornwall.

 She will visit stations including Kingsbridge which is due to be reopened in the next financial year.

 Further funding was confirmed earlier this year to open four further front offices in the next financial year, which will bring the total number open to the public across Devon and Cornwall to 27. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner said: “Footfall recorded in the first few months of the last six front desks reopened in Tiverton, Newton Abbot, Truro, Penzance, Bude and Falmouth showed us that at least 2,600 members of the public used this service.

 “Having these front desks open by next summer in popular tourist locations like Looe and Kingsbridge will be especially helpful during the summer months when crime levels in Devon and Cornwall increase by around 10 per cent.” 

Work and recruitment once completed will mean the newly refurbished front desks will give the public the opportunity to speak to staff face to face on issues such as reporting crime, seeking advice, crime prevention and support services for victims of crimes.

 Chief Constable Will Kerr has said: “These front-offices offer a reassuring presence in local communities, as well as being points of access for potentially vulnerable victims who prefer that face to face contact.

 “When not dealing with in-person enquiries, the newly recruited Police Enquiry Officers are able to respond to non-emergency contact, taking pressure off their colleagues in the control rooms.”

It is homed that the Kingsbridge front desk will open late this year or early in 2024.

Conservative Hernandez has been was first elected in 2016 and was re-elected in 2021. She covers Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

The front desks were originally closed due to a fall in footfall.

Alison Hernandez said: ‘‘I believe now is the time with the biggest investment in over a decade in policing to improve access to the police and re-open those that will be used.

We have all paid more in our council tax and received an uplift from the commitment from the government of 20,000 extra police officers. For Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly this equates to 498 extra. Many are in training now (it takes three years) but we secured a record number of 3610 police officers by the end of March 2023.

The figure was higher than pre-austerity and the highest ever recorded in the force’s history.