MP slams police for paying three £180k salaries

A Cornwall MP has criticised the local police force for a "leadership melodrama" that has resulted in three people being paid a £180,000 chief constable salary.

Devon and Cornwall Police (DCP) is currently paying three chief constables' wages after two of the police bosses were suspended on full pay.

Perran Moon, the MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, said: "The DCP leadership needs to get a grip and sort out this wholly unsatisfactory and expensive mess."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez had written to the Home Office requesting a special grant to cover the costs of the salaries.

Chief Constable Will Kerr was suspended in July 2023 after an investigation was opened into "serious allegations of sexual offences", which he has denied.

He was replaced by Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell, who was also suspended last month after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced it was investigating potential gross misconduct.

James Vaughan, the former chief constable in Dorset, has now been appointed as interim chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, meaning three police boss salaries are being paid.

Moon said: "While we have so many local policing challenges on the ground in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, the ongoing leadership melodrama at Devon and Cornwall Police (DCP) continues."

Ms Hernandez said the officers would continue to be paid until misconduct investigations were complete.

She said she had asked the Home Office for funding because the IOPC could take "weeks, months or even years to conclude their investigations".

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