THE new chief constable for Devon and Cornwall Police, Will Kerr, has been formally sworn in.

Mr Kerr takes over from Shaun Sawyer.

Mr Kerr was formerly the Deputy Chief Constable with Police Scotland and before that spent more than 27 years in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted: ‘Today we are pleased to welcome our new Chief Constable Will Kerr OBE.

‘He signed his Memorandum of Appointment and swore his attestation oath to officially begin his role as Devon and Cornwall Police Chief Constable.’

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez said: ‘One of the reasons why I appointed him [Mr Kerr] as the chief constable is because he's very keen on getting the basics right, he's very keen on serving our communities.

‘I think what we'll start to see is a lot more visibility of police officers, which is exactly what our community wants to see.’

In October the Devon and Cornwall force was moved into an enhanced level of monitoring by the police inspectorate.