Annual Equality Report 2022

The following sections detail the diversity of the Devon & Cornwall Police workforce. 

Police Officers (including Transferees)

In July 2019, the government announced plans to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers in England and Wales by the end of March 2023. This uplift in police officers meant that 446 additional police officers were recruited into Devon & Cornwall in 2022; of whom 123 were transferees from other forces in 2022.   Routes for individuals to join Devon & Cornwall Police include the Professional Policing Degree Route (in partnership with the University of South Wales), Returner and Transferee schemes.

Comparing data between 2021 and 2022, shows that:

Our police officer workforce is getting younger, 7.7% of police officers were aged 25 and under in 2022, when compared to 5.4% in 2021

Image - 2022 v 2021 - Age - Overall Representation

This increase in the number of officers aged 25 and under is reflected in the length of service for police officers in the timeframe of this report as shown below:

Image - 2022 - Length of Service - Representation by Rank

Our data tells us that there are a number of our workforce that have not stated whether or not they have or wish to declare a disability. Work is ongoing to encourage people to provide this information so that we are able to ensure our service provision and working arrangements and reasonable adjustments are provided appropriately.

Image - 2022 Workforce - Disability

The number of police officers from a minority ethnic background joining the force in 2022 (including transferees) has increased from 1.8% in 2021 to 2% in 2022. This figure however masks the increase in the number of transferees who are from a minority ethnic background which has risen from 3.5% in 2021 to 5.7% in 2022. 

The force has also seen an increase in the number of new joiners who define themselves as White Other from 0.9% in 2021 to 1.3% in 2022.

Whilst the number of female officers overall has increased slightly from 1,166 (34.3%) to 1,254 (35.2%); in 2022 of the 446 joiners to the force 178 (39.9%) were female.

Image - 2022 Workforce  - Ethnicity

Special Constabulary

Special constables are volunteers who carry out a variety of roles alongside regular police officers.  With the same powers as regular police officers, members of the Special Constabulary are expected to volunteer a minimum of 4 hours a week or 16 hours a month.   The training that special constables receive is part of the Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF); and takes an average 18 – 24 months to achieve directed patrol status.  Joining the specials is often seen as a gateway into regular policing roles.

In 2022, the force had 233 members of the Special Constabulary.  This was a significant reduction from the 300 in 2021, with the majority joining the force as regular police officers in response to the uplift in numbers.

Members of the special constabulary are older than regular policing. In 2022, 38.7% of specials were aged 41 and over compared to 31.7% in 2021.

The number of specials not recording information on whether they have a disability, remains high (although reducing) from 54.7% in 2021 to 41.2% in 2022.

There has been no change to the number of number of specials self-defining either from a minority ethnic background or White Other.  However, whilst the number of specials who have not recorded their ethnicity has reduced, there has been an increase in the percentage not recording from 30% in 2021 to 33% in 2022.

30% of the specials are female, this is no change from the previous year. The number of specials who are female is not however distributed evenly across the ranks as shown below:

Image - 2022 Sex - Represented by Rank

Police Staff (including Police Community Support Officers and Police & Fire Community Support Officers)

Devon & Cornwall Police currently employs 2,250 members of police staff on a grading system 1 – 12, and then Director.  64% of staff members work in roles graded 1 – 6. 

There has been little change in the overall age, ethnicity, and sex profile of the police staff workforce.

Image - 2022 v 2021 Sex - Overall Representation

Image - 2022 v 2021 Age - Overall Representation

The majority of police staff have worked for Devon & Cornwall Police for over 5 years (64%), with 46% having worked for the force for over 10 years.

Overall workforce – additional information

39.1% of the workforce do not record any religion or belief in our force systems.

Members of our workforce come from many differing religions and beliefs including:

• Atheism
• Buddhism
• Christianity (all denominations)
• Hinduism
• Humanism
• Islam
• Jainism
• Judaism
• Paganism
• No religion or belief
• Other religion or belief

What do we know about those who leave Devon & Cornwall Police

Individuals may leave the force for a many of reasons, this includes:

• Retirement
• Resignation
• Redundancy
• Transfer
• Other

The percentage of those leaving Devon & Cornwall Police in 2022 is given below:

Image - 2022 Leavers - Workforce Type

Image - 2022 - Workforce Type - Representation by Leaver Reason

Overall, the majority of leavers in 2022 were aged 41 – 55 (41.1%), however the age that the majority of police staff leave are over 55 (31.5%); however, 64.3% of those who leave the special constabulary are aged 40 and under.