Crime team officer levels tripled

Up to 100 officers can be assigned to single murder inquiries

The Devon and Cornwall Police force is to triple the number of officers in its serious crimes team.

The serious crimes investigation team is to get 80 more members on top of the 42 the department currently has.

The aim is to ensure that fewer police have to be taken off normal duties when there is a major incident.

The force said the drive followed an increase in the number of murder investigations it had been dealing with, which left it fully stretched.

Time-consuming work

Devon and Cornwall Police said the force had been hard pressed to cope when there were 33 suspected murders between June 2003 and last winter, nearly twice the usual number for that length of time.

Nineteen of them happened in just eight months.

In November 2003 alone, the force had to open high-profile investigations into the shootings of Carol and Graham Fisher who died near Wadebridge in Cornwall; Joan Roddam in nearby Delabole and teenager Alicia Eborne in Devon.

Up to 100 officers from several force departments can be assigned to single murder inquiries. They often involve time-consuming work following up dozens of leads.

This week saw two men being jailed for the murder of Cornish widower George Jenkin, 83. It was a successful conclusion for one case that involved a 12-month investigation by police.

However, the Police Federation said it wanted to see a bigger proportion of recruits working in the community, patrolling the streets and preventing crime.

Devon and Cornwall Police said it was keen to maintain the number of neighbourhood beat managers who are now patrolling the streets in communities across both counties.