In response to questions raised it was reported:

a)    There was a national issue with the way the police conducted their Drug Threat Assessments which were focused on drug-related deaths which linked to heroin, rather than addressing other drugs in the market where there was a lack of compliance with the law;

b)    The Commissioner had been unable to oversee the Combating Drugs Partnerships within Devon and Cornwall because there were four of them, so they were overseen by Local Authority Public Health Directors;

c)    The spread of drug use outlined in the report did not indicate an increase in drug use but rather an improved understanding of the drug trafficking taking place;

d)    The Commissioner recommended a presentation about the drugs challenges being faced as it would be a good way of pulling together the information from the Combating Drugs Partnerships, the Regional Organised Crime Unit and Operation Scorpion;

e)    Due to new guidance from the National Police Chiefs College non-crime hate incidents were no longer required to be recorded;  

f)     A homicide review officer would be funded through the Serious Violence Programme to increase the speed of which the situation is reviewed;

g)    The ongoing issue with reporting domestic violence due to the new crime recording system in November 2022 was reported by the Commissioner to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the National Police Chiefs Council and The Home Office;

h)    Crime Stoppers had been funded and promoted because anonymity aided in drug reporting, functioning effectively for that specific type of crime, also they had been responsive on the phone and had established strong relationships with each police force, reinforcing the police’s commitment to this issue to the general public;

i)     Devon and Cornwall Police had reached number one in the country in August 2023 for the fastest answering of 999 calls;

j)     The abandonment rate for 101 was poor because it was difficult to articulate why the calls had been abandoned, given the myriad of possible reasons for this occurrence including going online or using the chat facility;

k)    The new control room system AACC7 had been implemented and had been stable and had helped with doing the call-backs for the people who could not get through, there had been a lot of positive feedback about this service;

l)     The Commissioner agreed to bring the information regarding call-backs and abandonment to the next meeting;

m)  Triage had been introduced 101 to reduce distress levels for the public on the phone by reassuring them they were through to the police;

n)    Priority One (P1) and Priority Two (P2) used voice recognition to funnel the caller into a particular queue to determine the urgency of the call, that system had been changed so everyone would speak to a human at the switchboard triage;

o)    Call-back function was introduced and given as an option rather than saying on the line;

p)    Analysis of waiting times for 101 would be brought to the next panel for discussion.

The Committee agreed to note the report.