Steve Otter has worked in Hong Kong and in the Metropolitan Police

Steve Otter, 44, takes up his post in January, following the resignation of his controversial predecessor, Maria Wallis, after calls for her to go.

Mr Otter is currently deputy chief constable of Avon and Somerset and has worked in Hong Kong and for the Metropolitan Police.

He said the Devon and Cornwall force had gone through a difficult time.

He described becoming a chief constable as his lifelong ambition, and said Devon and Cornwall were wonderful places, full of wonderful people.

One of the first challenges will be to reinstate staff's confidence in themselves and the confidence that the public has in their local police Steve Otter, new Chief Constable

He said his main priority would be to make communities safer, and added that lessons were being learnt from the failed job evaluation exercise last year.

Former chief Maria Wallis stood down after facing an independent inquiry into the pay review, which proposed cutting hundreds of civilian workers' salaries.

Mrs Wallis, who joined Devon and Cornwall Police in 2002, also angered detectives in 2004 in a row over pay and resources during a series of murder cases and some withdrew out-of-hours cover in protest.

Legal action

Rank-and-file officers were also angered after some beat officers' photographs were published on the police website in a move to raise their local profile in 2004.

Officers said the pictures were used to make "wanted" posters and that they and their families suffered abuse.

Legal action was threatened before a compromise was reached.

Mr Otter said: "Devon and Cornwall has gone through a difficult time, a change in leadership, and that's always difficult.