About us

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary employs 3,500 police officers, more than 2,000 civilian staff and 362 police community support officers.

We cover the largest geographical police area in England, extending 180 miles from the Dorset and Somerset borders in the east to the Isles of Scilly in the west.

It includes the cities of Exeter and Plymouth, popular seaside resorts such as Torquay and Newquay, and a large rural population, each of which present very different policing challenges.

The area’s population is around 1.5 million, rising to eight million with the influx of visitors in the summer months.

The Constabulary’s history dates back to 1836 when 24 borough police forces were formed across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Parish constables were elected once a year by the vestry meeting in each parish, and the office was often unpopular, as they received no wages.

However, in the 1850s the Devon County Constabulary and Cornwall County Constabulary were formed, bringing a new professionalism to the policing of the peninsula. These constabularies, plus the Exeter City Police and the Plymouth Borough Police, finally came together in a series of mergers resulting in the formation of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in 1967.

If you would like to find out more about our history or contact our archives, please visit our Heritage and Learning Resource website

The Force is split into three BCU (Basic Command Units) Cornwall & The Isles of Scilly, Plymouth and Devon, each with its own commander. The BCUs are further broken down into sectors and neighbourhood beats.

To find out more about your local police please visit our neighbourhood policing pages.