NEARLY 100 more bobbies on the beat are in the pipeline after Devon and Cornwall Police welcomed a funding boost of £24m over the next four years.

Delighted Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said yesterday: ‘This plan, along with the budget proposals for 2017/18, represents a definitive step forward in making us sustainable and resilient for the 21st century.’

And he predicted: ‘It will enable us to connect with our communities, which is a key issue for us and our partners, along with modernising our services and aligning our resources to the changing demand in our local, national and international policing landscape.’

And he confirmed: ‘Through the use of the additional budget we will look to employ nearly 100 additional police officers on to the streets and into local policing – as well as 50 criminal investigators and 30 online record takers.’

He revealed that the extra injection of officers would bring the two counties force’s complement back up to the 3,000-mark.

‘Demand on the police is changing. We are still facing threats from organised crime and terrorism and must ensure we maintain and improve our capabilities to deal with this national threat,’ he said.

He warned: ‘We are also facing the new and emerging threats from international cyber-crime and complex issues such as child sexual exploitation and modern slavery.

‘We will be looking to develop our staff to meet these threats and protect the vulnerable.’

He added: ‘We pride ourselves on our local policing style and a team approach to keeping people safe. We will maintain the core elements within local policing to improve the connection with our communities, both digitally and through more traditional methods.

‘The frontline has become very stretched over the past years of austerity. At the same time demand has increased and the need for specialist capabilities, such as firearms officers and public order-trained staff, has grown to meet the national and international threats.

‘The redesign and reprioritisation of our workforce will require us to move some staff from existing roles, such as PCSOs, to other police staff roles, new staff investigation roles or to join up as police officers depending on their career aspirations as well as their suitability.’