Chief Officer Group (COG)
The Chief Constable - Shaun Sawyer
The Chief Officers Group is made up of the following senior members of staff - all of whom are answerable directly to the Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer
Chief Constable
Shaun Sawyer joined Devon and Cornwall Police as Deputy Chief Constable in April 2010. Following the departure of Stephen Otter in March 2012, Mr Sawyer was appointed as temporary Chief Constable before being appointed Chief Constable in February 2013.
Mr Sawyer began his police career in 1986, initially serving as a uniformed officer within central London including postings to clubs and vice. During that time he also served in high profile public order incidents.
The majority of his career as a senior police officer has been within Criminal Investigation. He was a Detective Superintendent within the Central London Major Crime Teams including being the lead Metropolitan Police Service investigating officer at the Ladbroke Grove Rail Disaster. He was the Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Superintendent responsible for Professional Standards and dealing with police corruption.
At ACPO rank he has served within Specialist Operations (Counter Terrorism) and Territorial Policing. From 2005 to 2007 he was the Metropolitan Police lead for Covert Operations and Intelligence and in 2007 to 2008 was the lead for violent crime and geographic policing in South West London. This included the initial responses to the growing gang culture and gang violence/gun crime within London. In 2008 he was appointed Head of Counter Terrorism within Scotland Yard with both national and international responsibilities.
Deputy Chief Constable
David Zinzan joined Devon and Cornwall Police in May 2012 as temporary Deputy Chief Constable; prior to this he served his entire career with the Met Police having joined them in 1982.
In his career within the Met he served mainly as a detective in a variety of posts including homicide, serious and organised crime, counter terrorism and anti-corruption. His last position was as police commander for south east London where he had responsibility for six boroughs, two million residents and 6,000 staff.
"I feel very privileged to have been selected to be the Temporary Deputy Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police. It is a fantastic job and I look forward to working closely with the Chief Constable and the rest of the team in making Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, the best rural, urban and coastal police service in the country."
Assistant Chief Constable (ACC)– Local Policing and Partnership (LPP)
Sharon Taylor was appointed Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) for Devon and Cornwall in April 2008 and is currently responsible for Local Policing and Partnerships (LPP).
She is responsible for all Neighbourhood Beat Managers, Neighbourhood Team Leaders, Local Policing Support Teams, Police Community Support Officers, all Local Policing Area Commanders, LPP Geographic Chief Superintendents, Specials and Volunteers as well as the Local Policing Department.
Sharon joined the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) after graduating with the University of Lancaster. During her 23 years service with the MDP she had a wide range of experience and has been operational at every level of her service. She has been a Divisional Commander, Head of Divisional Operations, worked with HMIC on BCU inspections, Head of Professional Standards and also has staff officer and training experience.
She was then appointed as temporary ACC in 2004 and successfully completed the Strategic Command Course in 2005.
She came to Devon and Cornwall Police as Temporary ACC in June 2007 assuming the portfolio as ACC Citizen Focus. On appointment as ACC in 2008 she took over the Business Change portfolio before assuming responsibility for Criminal Justice and Professional Standards in 2009.
Sharon is the first person in the history of the MDP to achieve the rank of ACC with another force.
Sharon lives in Mid Devon with her husband and two teenage boys.
[back to top]
Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) – Operations Support (OS)
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton joined Devon & Cornwall Constabulary in April 2008.
As ACC Operations Support he is responsible for delivering uniform protective services across Devon, Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly. This includes responsibility for firearms, contingency planning and events planning. He is the ACPO Regional lead for public order and an experienced public order and public events commander.
Whilst as an ACC in Devon & Cornwall Paul has been responsible for Territorial Policing and command of the delivery of local policing across the peninsula.
He is also Chair of the Local Resilience Forum for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. As the Regional lead for public order he was Gold commander for the start of the Olympic Torch and has provided national advice around critical issues including even support to the Falkland Islands around policing protests.
Mr Netherton joined Surrey Police in 1990 having obtained a BSc Hons degree at Southampton University. He worked throughout Surrey in a range of operational and strategic posts. He transferred to Hampshire as a superintendent in 2001 and was posted to Portsmouth. In 2002 he was posted as a chief superintendent to the Police Standards Unit in the Home Office. Mr Netherton then returned to Hampshire as the police commander for Basingstoke and in April 2006 he became the chief superintendent in charge of policing in the North East of Hampshire.
He is married with two young children.
[back to top]
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable (T/ACC) – Crime and Criminal Justice
Chris Boarland joined Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in 1996 after transferring from Leicestershire Constabulary where he began his police career in 1982.
Chris’ first role in Devon and Cornwall was as the Crime Manager in North Devon. This was followed by a spell as Crime Manager for the City of Plymouth before moving on promotion to become one of the Force Senior Investigating Officers (SIO). During his time as an SIO, Chris dealt with a large number of high profile murder and serious crime investigations, some of which attracted both national and international media attention.
In 2003 Chris moved to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly BCU where over the next two and a half years he was the Operations Superintendent and Deputy BCU Commander with specific responsibility for BCU performance. In October 2005 he was invited to form part of the force programme for responding to the HMIC 'Closing the Gap' report and the Government’s proposal to amalgamate police forces in England and Wales. He played a key part in delivering the additional resources sufficient to meet HMIC recommendations for strategic forces.
Following promotion to Chief Superintendent, Chris undertook various roles including Head of Crime, Head of the Force Leadership Directorate and latterly Geographic Commander for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In May 2012 Chris was appointed Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Crime and Criminal Justice. His portfolio includes local investigation/CID, major crime, serious and organised crime, scientific services, public protection, intelligence directorate, Force authorities, custody and criminal justice.
[back to top]
Director of Finance and Resources
Sandy Goscomb is responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective use of resources. This includes responsibility for financial planning and control, for purchasing and for the management of buildings and land.
[back to top]
Director of Human Resources
Chris Haselden was appointed Director of Human Resources in June 2007.
His responsibilities include the recruitment and retention of officers and staff, employment terms and conditions, employee relations, learning and development, occupational health, health and safety, the provision of people information and employee engagement
[back to top]
Director of Legal Services
Mike Stamp was appointed Director of Legal Services in September 2006.
The key areas of his portfolio cover employment law, operational policing law, the management of police information, police misconduct, coroner’s inquests, licensing and advising on real time operations.