Chief constable agrees to stay for two more years
BBCDevon and Cornwall Police's chief constable has agreed to stay in the job for two more years.
The force's Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez confirmed James Vaughan had extended his contract until August 2028.
Vaughan was appointed on an interim basis in December 2024 following the suspension of the then Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell, who later received a written warning from the police watchdog for breaching the force's notifiable associations policy but was cleared of gross misconduct allegations.
It means Vaughan is set to remain in post beyond the government's plans to abolish the police and crime commissioner's role in May 2028.
Hernandez said Vaughan, who was previously chief constable of Dorset Police, had provided "strong and effective leadership" during his time in Devon and Cornwall.
She said he was originally appointed to "help me out in a crisis", adding: "He came out of retirement to help us."
"Under his leadership, we have seen important cultural improvements within the organisation that are now translating into tangible improvements in performance and service delivery for our communities," Hernandez said.
"The force is no longer subject to enhanced monitoring by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, we are seeing improvements in 101 and 999 call answering times and Operation Resolve is returning more officers to frontline policing where they are needed most."
'Morale was low'
Vaughan said "important progress" had been made, but there was still more work to do.
"What I did find when I came here sort of 20 months ago was we had some destabilising matters around chief constables - that was unhelpful," he said.
"Morale across the force, and actually across policing, was at a low.
"What I've done to try to address that is to give them some stability, whether they like my policies and what I'm trying to deliver or not, I'm here to stay and that message is now clear.
"What I'm delivering is going to stick and I'm going to stick around to see it through."
