West Devon police outline 2026 priorities after sharp fall in anti-social behaviour

2025 has been productive for my West Devon team having achieved a 8.8 percent reduction in reported anti-social behaviour over the past 12 months by targeting repeat locations and individuals affecting the enjoyment of our communities through their poor behaviours. 

A big part of that success has been the implementation of public spaces protection orders in both Tavistock and Okehampton which give us a valuable tool against ASB and we will continue to use these into 2026.

In terms of the coming year our area priorities are as follows:

ASB – We will continue to work alongside West Devon Borough Council and housing providers to target those responsible for Anti-social behaviour in our communities. 

A key piece of work over the next 12 months is hopefully making progress towards CCTV being implemented in Tavistock town with the town and borough councils which will be put the public consultation in the new year. 

We are also well on the way to formation of a West Devon business crime reduction partnership between the BIDs for both Okehampton and Tavistock to improve our response to shoplifting and ASB in the towns and to support our businesses.

Road safety – We continue to take proactive action against individuals who drink or drug drive in our area or are unsafe to drive by bringing those responsible to justice and working alongside the DVLA. 

Our Okehampton team are being trained on new state of the art speed detection cameras to deploy to areas highlighted for issues with speeding. 

We continue to work with Devon County Highways looking at problem locations and working toward safety improvements on our road networks.

Drugs – We will continue to execute drug warrants and take proactive action against those harming our communities by distributing drugs.

Over the Christmas period we have conducted an operation with Licencing officers to detect and deter drug use in our nighttime economy.

Rural Crime – We continue to improve our response and understanding of rural issues with the support of the specialist rural affairs team. 

Several proactive operations are being planned considering key areas such as livestock worrying, fly tipping and farm and machinery theft.

 Heading into the new year, I understand public frustrations with Policing and that many of you will have not received the service that you should have expected or deserved in the past.

We will commit to being accessible to you by our continued efforts to be visible in our communities on a daily basis and at events across the region or by our greatly improved reporting both online and at Tavistock and Okehampton front offices.

We also want to build trust, which is key to our effectiveness in our duties, but we can only change your opinion if given the chance to do so. 

Talk to us about your issues and we will provide a compassionate and professional response to work with you to improve our communities for the better.