There are moments in this job which I’ll remember for the rest of my life. They come around frequently, but rarely do several occur in just a few days as they did last week.

The official opening of the six police enquiry offices opened in this financial year had been in diaries for months. I was honoured to meet schoolchildren, councillors, neighbourhood policing teams and businesspeople in Okehampton, Honiton, Ilfracombe, Kingsbridge and Looe, on a tour of Devon and Cornwall which proved precisely why I think having accessible face-to-face policing teams in these locations is so important.

The weather was fair for the first event, in Honiton, where there was a fabulous reception from the local community. Honiton is a busy town, with a very active police station in its centre, and there was a real sense of renewal in the late winter sunshine as I cut the ribbon on this project.

The next two days took in south Devon, south east Cornwall and north Devon in steady rain and blustery winds. Journey times were hampered by roadworks and narrow country lanes were often flooded.

Looe, Kingsbridge and Ilfracombe might appear on the map to be within easily drivable distances of each other but in reality, when poor weather hits or in busy tourist periods, these wonderful coastal communities can seem pretty remote.

Stormy conditions, though, failed to dampen the spirits of those who came out to greet us, in what was a very uplifting few days. I’d like to thank everyone who has worked with me and my office to decide the locations for this investment and who has made these projects run on time and on budget.

So far there have been 13 police enquiry offices reopened or opened for the first time and there are another five in the pipeline. This project aims to give back communities an accessible policing building and means many thousands of us are that much closer to a friendly face and an alternative to the 101 non emergency phone number if they want to contact the force.

I had been due to open Devonport’s police enquiry office on Friday. This is a building which was never designed to have a front desk but, partly to reassure the nearby community of Keyham that policing was behind them, I thought it worthy of the investment.

Those of you who follow the news though, will know that part of Plymouth was subjected to one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history after the discovery of a Second World War bomb earlier in the week.

I decided to postpone the Devonport opening and instead my team and I joined many other agencies and volunteers to knock on doors to ensure everyone living in the evacuation zone was offered the chance to leave before the Royal Navy moved the giant explosive through the streets and out to sea, where it could be detonated safely.

The evacuation was an extraordinary effort, co-ordinated by the police and with Plymouth City Council, Dartmoor Search and Rescue, Fire and Rescue and countless other organisations. That part of Plymouth is densely populated and many of those still in their homes on Friday lunchtime had complex medical needs. Specialist transport was available and a welfare hub had been set up in Plymouth’s Life Centre where people could rest and be fed and watered.

The Navy was free to get on with the job in hand, and by early evening everyone was able to get back to their homes. Normal life resumes and I hope to get back to Plymouth later this week to finally cut the ribbon on Devonport’s front desk.

Both the front desk reopening programme and the operation to evacuate Keyham demonstrate how effective public services can be when we pull together to solve a problem. After any such event I wonder if we treated other challenges with a similar sense of urgency and collaboration would society have fewer problems?