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Scrutiny meetings and documents

The Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible by law for holding the Chief Constable to account on behalf of the residents of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for delivering a police force that works well and meets the needs of its communities. To do this the Police and Crime Commissioner ‘scrutinises’ certain issues and activities.

Hate Crime Scrutiny Inquiry

In June 2023 the Commissioner published the findings of her scrutiny inquiry in which she set out to better understand hate crime prevalence and examine how well the police are tackling hate crime in Devon and Cornwall. The report concludes that whilst some challenges remain, the force is working hard to tackle hate crime and provide a good service to victims. 

A PCC Scrutiny Inquiry into Hate Crime: Findings Report

Community Speed Watch Scrutiny Review

During Spring 2021 the PCC chaired a scrutiny review of the force's Community Speed Watch (CSW) scheme, to better understand the successes and the challenges facing CSW activity, review the force's proposals for further investment in the scheme, and where appropriate, make recommendations to the Chief Constable for improvements. The PCC and her panel considered a range of information and evidence, including testimony from CSW volunteers and from frontline police officers. The below report brings together these findings and makes ten recommendations.

Community Speed Watch Scrutiny Review: Findings and Recommendations Report

Chief Constable's Response

 

Out of Court Disposals Scrutiny Panel

Please note: From Autumn 2020 the operation of the Out of Court Disposal Scrutiny Panel has been transferred to the Local Criminal Justice Board, reflecting the relevance and importance of this work across the wider criminal justice partnership.  The Panel meet in November 2020 and will meet again in early 2021.  The OPCC will continue to publish summaries of the Panel’s work on behalf of the Local Criminal Justice Board.

The purpose of this scrutiny panel is to independently review youth and adult cases that have been dealt with through the use of Out of Court Disposals. The members of the panel are from a range of organisations including the courts service, the crown prosecution service and youth offending teams.

The scrutiny of Out of Court Disposals is about reviewing cases and working practices, to recognise what the police are doing well and to support the police to learn when necessary.

 

Use of Police Powers Community Scrutiny Panel

The Use of Police Powers Community Scrutiny panel is a small group of people who are members of the public. The panel's members are volunteers and they are completely independent from Devon and Cornwall Police.

The role of the panel is to scrutinise how Devon and Cornwall Police use some of its legal powers (including Stop and Search and Use of Force), and to report its findings to the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Panel members are not inspectors of constabularies, auditors, professional standards officers, or the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The panel can explore issues and offer insight and recommendations to the PCC but will not consider individual cases that are, or have been, subject to disciplinary procedures.

The panel scrutinises police performance data and also carries out independent scrutiny reviews into specific topics. View the panel's terms of reference.

 

Thematic Scrutiny Review of the 101 Service

In the summer of 2020 the PCC announced her intention to carry out a scrutiny review of the 101 service, in particular to consider how the service is meeting the needs of the public following the introduction of the new Interactive Voice Recognition system for 101 in July 2019.  The OPCC convened a bespoke scrutiny panel which brought together the PCC, members of the use of police powers scrutiny panel, victim support and councillor advocates who carried out a review in November and December 2020 and have made 12 recommendations to the Chief Constable. The recommendations were submitted to the Chief Constable in January 2021 who will formally respond to the PCC.

 

Other Police and Crime Commissioner Scrutiny Activities