Commissioner’s award praises multi-skilled responders who are unique to Devon and Cornwall

L-R, Chief Superintendent Scott Bradley, Inspector Miles Topham, Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez

A retiring Devon & Cornwall Police Inspector who has worked tirelessly to help successfully launch and expand a pioneering multi emergency services response role has been presented with a special award from Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez. 

Tri-Service Safety Officers (TSSOs) - who can be called upon to deal with police, ambulance and fire and rescue incidents - were first introduced in Cornwall in 2014 to provide a broad skill set and enhance early intervention, prevention, and support for vulnerable individuals.   

This innovative model – which is unique to Devon and Cornwall and is hoped to be replicated across the country in the future – began as a pilot in Hayle, Cornwall, in 2014. There are now 15 full-time roles across Cornwall, and earlier this year Devon’s first TSSO was officially launched in Holsworthy. 

Shortly after the first pilot was launched, Inspector Miles Topham became its project lead. Next month he is retiring after 28 years of service with Devon & Cornwall Police. To mark his outstanding contribution to improving community safety, last week he received a commendation award and certificate from the Commissioner. 

Praising his long-term dedication and commitment to policing and the TSSO scheme, she said: “TSSOs bring a skill set to a community that is unheard of in the rest of the country. Miles has overseen its implementation and expansion with passion and relentless enthusiasm driven by a desire to help others. He has brought in and recruited some of the most talented individuals who we are very lucky to have in Devon and Cornwall. 

“TSSOs make an absolute real difference to people’s lives within the communities they serve. They can respond to urgent and non-urgent incidents from a multi-agency perspective, and play a key role in improving public safety, reducing risks and providing early intervention in hard-to-reach communities. 

“Miles’s collaborative approach with other emergency services has created an innovative model that I am helping to see replicated across the UK.” 

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) jointly funds the TSSO scheme with Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) and South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), with additional funding from the local NHS.    

Inspector Topham, who has previously worked in response, neighbourhood, domestic abuse, CID and custody teams, says he hopes his lasting legacy will be helping to secure funding for the expansion of the scheme. 

He said: “We are very close to achieving health funding for 2026 onwards to rollout the scheme in other regions. Our TSSOs are really inspiring and make you want to work harder for them.  

“They support the emergency services in a fantastic way which has made patient outcomes and experiences much better. Their whole ethos is reducing vulnerability and risk in communities. They provide that local point of contact in areas where policing may not often have a presence and can deal with incidents from a multiple emergency perspective rather than in isolation. 

“They can also give individuals help for as long as it takes and therefore a quality service as there are no time pressures on them.  There are numerous stories where lives have been saved helping people suffering cardiac arrests and even saving an individual attempting to take his own life.  

“However, less than 10 per cent of the work they do is emergency response; their main duties are early intervention prevention and improving peoples’ lives. 

“I am so proud to be associated with them. The job has been an absolute joy and I have loved every minute of it.” 

Revealing his gratitude for being chosen to receive a Commissioner’s award before his retirement, he said: “I am very proud and honoured to receive this award from the Commissioner for TSSO and collaborative work. 

“It is the team that is leading the way and are making massive differences in Cornwall and now in Devon. I hope it will become a national scheme and its legacy will be one I’m incredibly proud - but it is the team who need to take all the credit.”