Stopping people from falling into a cycle of crime will be central to North Yorkshire Police’s priorities going forward under plans launched by the county’s mayor and policing spokesperson.
York and North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Plan launched on Monday, March 31 includes ambitions reach people through education, sports clubs and other community groups to ward them off offending.
Mayor David Skaith said the region could not be complacent in tackling rising retail crime, violence against women and girls and to maintain public confidence in the police.
Jo Coles, York and North Yorkshire’s deputy mayor for policing, said she her aims included getting more victims to come forward and working with perpetrators to cut re-offending.
The plan, which runs to 2029, names violence against women and girls and retail crime along with rural offences and antisocial behaviour as priorities to deal with regionally.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Tim Forber said that although all offences had fallen, pockets of deprivation and rural crime remained a challenge.
He added the force would not take a sticking plaster approach and it would work to get more officers into communities while also tackling crimes that were not as visible.
The plan’s aims include working with young people in communities and individually to help those at risk of falling into crime, protecting the vulnerable and bolstering support for victims.
Early intervention efforts are also set to include tackling drug and alcohol related-crime and referring offenders for treatment, along with aims to double the amount of commissioned prevention services.
The plan also includes measures such as increasing police patrols in problem areas and working with high street and other businesses and using CCTV to combat antisocial behaviour.
Efforts to tackle violence against women and girls include using more prevention orders including for stalking and improving response times to boost victims’ confidence.
Officials said at the launch of the plan on Monday North Yorkshire Police was also using its share of £200m in Government funding announced in January to recruit more officers.
The Government is aiming to recruit 13,000 more police officers to forces in England and Wales by 2029.
Mayor Mr Skaith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he had seen how generations of people risked being trapped in cycles of crime.
He added his experience while out with officers on a drugs raid in Scarborough brought home the importance of intervening early.
The Labour mayor said: “We visited a young woman who had a five-year-old daughter, I thought at the time- would we be arresting that girl in years to come?
“We’ve got to break that cycle, by working with sports clubs and community groups we can show young people there is another path.
“Crime in most areas of North Yorkshire is coming down so we’re going in the right direction already, but retail crime and violence against women and girls is increasing.
“We also need to make sure public confidence in the police is improving, we’ve got funding going into extra police officers so we can create environments where people feel safe, that work is always ongoing.”
Deputy Mayor Ms Coles told LDRS the plan’s aims to tackle violence against women and girls in particular was part of national efforts to halve offences in the next decade.
She added early intervention on crime generally would come in large part down to young people having more things to do and services available to them.
The Labour deputy mayor for policing said: “I worked in youth provision 15 years ago and I saw the impact that can have.
“This plan is about ensuring that would is ramped up and we’re getting services into the plays where they’re most needed.
“Success for the plan generally would be improving the confidence of victims and increasing prosecutions.
“We also want to do more work through perpetrator programmes and encourage people to challenge behaviour when they see it.”
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