From Action 36: 

Zoe shared that there is no specific correlation between location and lack of Body-Worn Video (BWV) availability. Cases recorded as “no camera available” typically involve officers in plain clothes or investigative roles who choose not to carry one. These instances are addressed through policy reminders and supervisory discussions. The force is also improving BWV accessibility by moving from a personal-issue system to a force-wide pool system, allowing any officer to use available cameras from docking stations across the force. This change aims to ensure BWV devices are available whenever needed.

From Action 37: 

Zoe shared that the Data Protection Team confirmed that subject access requests are not categorised by data type (e.g., Body-Worn Video related to stop and search). As a result, the team cannot identify or provide the number of individuals who have requested copies or deletion of their BWV footage.

NOTE: The data panel minutes are now live on the DCCSP Website

DATA SCRUTINY PANEL 

20th october 2025

Actions Update: 
Actions 34 to 37 feedback 

From Action 34: 

Zoe shared that officers are required to select from defined lists for perceived age, sex, and race but “Not applicable” is not a valid option. However, a small but consistent number of records show poor or incomplete data (e.g., blank or “not applicable” fields). These are believed to result from incomplete or “ghost” records created when officers start but cannot finish reports. The issue has been highlighted through to the officers, but limited resources and competing priorities make it difficult to fully investigate and resolve but they are aware and working to address it. Additionally, there is a known system problem affecting officer-perceived race data since mid-May, where some entries from Pronto are not transferring correctly into Niche; the supplier has been notified but no cause has yet been identified.

From Action 35: 

It was noted by the panel that Use of Force (UoF) reports are recorded by the officer’s home force. Therefore, mutual aid officers from other forces assisting in the area (e.g., at Boardmasters) are not included in Devon & Cornwall (D&C) data. Conversely, when D&C officers use force while supporting another force (e.g., the Metropolitan Police), their reports are included in D&C data, with the location recorded as “Out of Force (OOF).”

  • Data Quality:

    The analysis of data from 2nd January to 16th September focused on data quality, trends over time, and disproportionality in relation to Stop and Search. For the Use of Force analysis, only data from May to September was used.

  • Stop and Search

    It was noted that Stop and Search data quality has improved, with all August records containing completed officer-perceived ethnicity fields. Comparison between self-defined and officer-perceived race data for August shows slight variation around 4% of individuals self-defined as Black, while officers perceived 5% as Black. Year-to-date data indicates an upward trend in stop and searches involving non-White individuals, with officer-perceived figures peaking at 8% in April, dropping to 5% in May, and then rising again to 8% in August.

  • Use of Force

    It was noted that a continuing system issue has been identified where ‘subject perceived race’ data is not correctly transferring from the Pronto mobile application to the Niche system, affecting 42% of records in August. It is believed that officers are recording the information, but the error results in false negatives in the data extract. Further analysis of Use of Force (UoF) race data has been paused until this issue is resolved. The Use of Force data is still poor at the moment.

Longitudinal Trends Over Time:

Stop and Search

A slight increase in stop and search volumes was recorded in August, which is expected due to seasonal factors and the holiday period.

Thematic Context: 

  • Age

    A previously missed record from January 2025 shows a stop and search involving a child under 11 years old who was stopped and searched for drugs which was the only such case identified in the available data. The individual was a Black girl, with no object found and no further action taken. This case may need to be flagged for BWV panel scrutiny.

  • Injury from Use of Force

    It was noted that although Use of Force (UoF) data remains of generally poor quality, with many entries marked as unknown, not applicable, or not recorded, August data shows 114 individuals (7%) recorded as being injured during incidents. This may warrant further exploration and potential review by the BWV panel for additional scrutiny.

    It was highlighted during the panel meeting that the high number might be due to the records of Use of force not the actual incidence which happened.

  • Availability of BWV

    The panel noted that the camera availability significantly improved in August, with only 6 out of 411 Use of Force records (around 1%) noting that a Body-Worn Video (BWV) camera was not available. Zoe shared how this is useful as it feeds into the choice and range of videos to choose from by the wider panel.

  • High Tourist Periods

    The panel reviewed high tourist periods, a review of stop and search data for April (Easter and Bank Holidays) and August which was a full month (summer and Bank Holidays) shows no change in the age distribution of stops in April but a possible increase in stops for offensive weapons. In August, there was an increase in stops involving individuals aged 18–25 and a slight rise in searches related to drugs and offensive weapons.

Scrutiny Follow-Up and Wellbeing Form:

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