Devon & Cornwall Police News site

From June 23 – 29 2025 Devon & Cornwall Police took part in Operation Scorpion 12, along with four other south west police forces, plus the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and British Transport Police and partners across the south west.

The collaboration is aimed at reducing drug harm in the region. Alongside arrests of people suspected of taking part in criminal activities and the seizure of drugs, cash and weapons, officers also engaged with the public to educate them about how to report issues in their area and on how to spot the signs of vulnerable people being exploited by criminal networks.

In Buckfast, Neighbourhood Beat Manager PC Claire Hurrell continued her teams’ close work with the local housing authority, distributing posters which encourage people to report drug nuisance. The posters outline causes for concern, and feature contact details for the police and a QR code which directs people’s smartphones directly to the Devon & Cornwall Police online contact forms.

PC Hurrell said: “We are encouraging our communities to report information and intelligence about drug activity to us, working in partnership with our partners such as Teign Housing.

“We want people to report anything that’s impacting them such as anti-social behaviour, drug paraphernalia or unusual activity. The public really do hold key information that contributes to the picture that the police build up about what is happening in the community. Relevant and reliable information, even the smallest incident, could be the thing that when added to other intelligence then enables us to carry out a warrant or other intervention on a property.”

Jodie Gould, a Community Housing Officer for Teign Housing, said: “Teign Housing deals with anti-social behaviour complaints that come from our tenants, or about our tenants.  We work in partnership with the police and local authority and require information from the community. The more reports we have, the better we can come up with a solution that may involve Good Neighbour Agreements, Community Protection Warnings, and tenancy breach action."

Jodie also added that residents can report repeated or single incidents, as they all add to an overall understanding of issues. The use of The Noise App for smartphone users is also encouraged as it records unreasonable noise incidents and automatically reports them to Teign Housing.

In Camborne, Inspector Louisa Brown’s team looked at the issue of cuckooing, which is where a vulnerable person is coerced into allowing their home to be used by criminals for the storage and distribution of illegal items such as drugs.

Inspector Brown said: “We designed some new leaflets that outline the signs that someone is being cuckooed and how to report it. We also trialled the use of window stickers that give a visual reminder that police regularly patrol certain areas.

“We briefed local Police Cadets about cuckooing, who then distributed the leaflets and spoke to local residents about the issue.”

PCSO Rebecca Di Quirico said: “The Cadets distributed 500 leaflets in Camborne and feedback from local residents about those and the advisory stickers was good. They were also positive about the engagement with them by the Cadets.”

You can report anti-social behaviour to Devon & Cornwall Poloice by calling 101 or using the specific ASB reporting form on the force website here, just click the “Report” button  www.devon-cornwall.police.uk

Find out more about cuckooing on the website too, how to spot the signs and how to report concerns: www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/cl/county-lines

Full results of Operation Scorpion 12 can be found on the Devon & Cornwall Police website: https://news.devon-cornwall.police.uk/news-article/f83d3afa-b558-f011-9d7d-6045bdd24049

Photos:

• Police Cadets out and about to meet residents in Camborne with posters and window stickers.
• Jodie Gould, Community Housing Officer for Teign Housing and Neighbourhood Beat Manager PC Claire Hurrell with new drugs reporting poster.