Further questions were asked of the Criminal Records Bureau after fears were raised that school caretakers were not being vetted at the highest possible level.
Former PC Trevor Cross, now a civilian worker at Devon and Cornwall Police, said he was told to stop carrying out full criminal record checks on caretaker applicants in December.
He said vetting of potential lifeguards, scout leaders, classroom assistants and school volunteers had also been downgraded.
Devon and Cornwall Police admitted it had made changes but claimed it was now merely "in line with the national picture" and had been "over and above" the common standard before.
Mr Cross, 49, told the Sunday Mirror that he worked alongside a team of 15 civilian checkers in Exeter tackling a backlog of around 10,000 cases.
He said that until December those applying for school caretaker jobs were checked at the same level as teachers.
"When I was told on December 12 not to carry out full checks on school caretakers and other jobs I asked a supervisor why and I got no explanation," he told the newspaper.
"We were told to stick to a list of professions and that was that. I thought, 'I cannot do this', and I've made a decision to speak out for the sake of every parent in Britain.
"Ian Huntley slipped through the net as a caretaker and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if it happened again."
Vetting of caretakers came under the microscope after Huntley murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
