Over 100 extra police officers hired across Cornwall and Devon in the last year
The increase is part of the government's nationwide recruitment drive
New figures show more than 100 extra police officers were hired in Devon and Cornwall over the last year as part of a nationwide recruitment drive.
There were 3,417 police officers in Devon and Cornwall Police in December according to Home Office data, up from 3,293 on the year before.
At an increase of 3.8%, this was slightly above the average rise of 3.5% across England and Wales's police forces.
Following Boris Johnson’s commitment to invest in police forces and increase officer numbers, the Home Office launched the police uplift programme in April 2020 with the aim of recruiting 20,000 new police officers by March 2023.
This would require a 15.6% increase in police officers across the two nations' police forces over the three-year period.
By December 2021, 11,505 officers had been recruited nationally - a 9% increase.
The majority (11,048) of these were hired through the uplift programme, with the rest recruited using local funds.
In Devon and Cornwall, the figure has risen by 9.7% since April 2020, meaning 302 more officers. Of them, 252 were recruited via the Home Office’s initiative and the other 50 through local funds.
Read more: Police budget to deliver "record number of officers" in Cornwall and Devon
The national increase follows dwindling police officer numbers between 2009 and 2017, during which the total number across England and Wales declined from almost 145,000 to just over 120,000.
The Police Federation of England and Wales has criticised the government's plan to boost police ranks for not going far enough, following policing cuts over a decade.
Ché Donald, national vice-chairman of the Police Federation, said: "The current uplift programme to recruit 20,000 additional officers – which is now only halfway there – doesn’t go far enough, as it simply replaces the number of police officers lost during the years of austerity.
"Not only do we have an exponentially expanding population which has grown by four million in the last decade, but the level of crime has increased and become far more complex.
"In addition, the time officers spend dealing with non-crime issues, such as helping vulnerable people and those in mental health crises, has also risen".
Mr Donald said the force needs "long-term recruitment and sustainable funding", and that police leaders must focus on retention of staff, as well as recruitment of new officers.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Beating crime is the government’s number one priority, that's why we are putting more police on our streets to keep our communities safe".
They added it is is on track to recruit 20,000 additional officers by March 2023 and that it is increasing funding for policing by up to £1.1 billion.
The spokesperson added: "We are evolving our approach to emerging crime threats such as fraud, on top of giving the police the powers and tools they need to stop crimes happening in the first place".
More information about the police budget and police and crime plan for Cornwall and Devon can be found on the Police and Crime Commissioner's website.