Police Enquiry Offices are an asset to communities, says Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez as she opens three more to the public

Last week I had the great pleasure of officially opening three more police stations to the public. 

On Thursday, Chief Constable James Vaughan and I visited Ivybridge Police Station, where we met the police enquiry officers who help members of the public at the front desk. We were joined by MP for South West Devon Rebecca Smith, Ivybridge mayor Councillor Alan Spencer, and members of the community including the Salvation Army, local food bank and the church.  

The Devon & Cornwall Police Cadets were also in attendance, helping to make everyone welcome. I’m always so impressed when I meet these young volunteers who give up their spare time to help their community and support our police force. There is always an abundance of professionalism and enthusiasm that will stand them in great stead if they choose to pursue a career in policing. 

On Friday, I attended Liskeard and Tavistock Police Stations with ACC Nikki Leaper to open their police enquiry offices. We were again joined by members of the community and the local policing teams, as well as MP for South East Cornwall Anna Gelderd at Liskeard, and the High Sheriff of Devon Commodore Jake Moores and Vice Lord-Lieutenant Rear Admiral Chris Snow at Tavistock. It was great to hear from everyone about how important these new facilities are to people living in or near these towns.  

Thank you to everyone who braved the weather to make these openings a success; all three events had a real air of celebration.  

I am extremely proud to be able to bring such an asset back into towns and cities in Devon and Cornwall, one that will make a difference people’s lives, and the safety and resilience of our communities. 

You can find your nearest police enquiry office here. The brilliant officers who man the desk not only help with in-person enquiries such as taking crime reports, giving advice and signposting to victim services, but they also deal with contact from the public via 101. 

I was also delighted to hear last week that my office will once again receive funding from the Home Office to deliver hotspot policing in the next financial year. 

In 2024-25 we were allocated £1m to deliver this initiative which has proven hugely successful in tackling violence and antisocial behaviour in problem areas across the peninsula. 

To date, more than 22,000 hours of hotspot patrols have been delivered by police and street marshals. This has resulted in attendance at 1,376 ASB incidents, 204 arrests and 1,680 pieces of intelligence submitted.  

These patrols have been a great benefit to the areas we’ve targeted. Not only have they had a great impact on deterring crime but also raised public confidence and community engagement. More than 80,000 members of the public have been engaged with through hotspot policing and 35,000 premises have been visited, providing residents and businesses with greater access to support. 

So it’s great news that the government has recognised the importance of continuing this momentum. While we await the specifics of the funding allocation, my office is in the process of identifying areas to focus on for the coming financial year and I look forward to being able to announce these in due course. 

The funding is a welcome addition to the Neighbourhood Policing Grant that was recently doubled to £200m nationally. We have been awarded £4.7m which can be used to recruit police officers and police community support officers (PCSOs), as well as police staff to backfill positions to free up officers working in desk-based roles. 

I am proposing to use this money to recruit 55 more PCSOs who will add extra resource to our amazing neighbourhood policing teams who are highly valued by those living and working in our villages, towns and cities and who work hard to tackle issues affecting them. 

With these extra boots on the ground, as well as more high-visibility patrols thanks to hotspot policing, and Exeter city centre police station set to open later this year, bringing the total number open to the public to 27, I am proud to say this will be the year of visible, pro-active and accessible neighbourhood policing in Devon and Cornwall.