WEST Devon Borough Council is working with the police to bring more officers back onto the streets. The council?s overview and scrutiny committee voiced its concerns that the public wanted a more visible police presence in the borough. Cllr John Soul, chairman of the committee, said more police officers needed to be seen on the streets of West Devon, particularly in villages. He told the committee: ?Though West Devon is one of the safest areas in the country, the message coming from the public is that they don?t feel as if they are being looked after. ?There?s no visible police presence to make them feel reassured.? Inspector Kara Sherwood-Davies, who heads police operations in the West Devon area, told the meeting that by the end of the year the borough will have an additional six police community support officers. She said that while the support officers have limited powers, they would be extremely useful to the public: ?The whole ethos of community support officers is that they will be visible to the public and provide us with a good source of community intelligence.? Currently, West Devon has just one community support officer but Insp Sherwood-Davies said that by December, a further six would be in West Devon, totalling seven support officers in total. Cllr Soul said that while it was a positive step that more officers were coming to West Devon, he was concerned that the public was unaware of the limited powers of the police community support officers. The committee heard that Devon and Cornwall Police has employed more than 300 extra police officers since 2003. Just over 3,517 full-time equivalent officers now work for the force. Cllr Soul said the council looked forward to a more visible approach from the police and will be monitoring the situation closely.
