Police boss: ‘No room for complacency’

THE region’s police and crime commissioner says there is no room for complacency after being part of a dramatic turnaround in policing in East Yorkshire.

The past 12 months have seen the number of officers in Humberside Police reach the 2,000 mark for the first time in a decade.

It follows the force receiving its best-ever external inspection grading when every area of its operation was rated as being good.

In his new annual report published this week, Keith Hunter, pictured, said: “Humberside Police is seen as the most improved in the country.

“With well-embedded neighbourhood teams working to priorities identified by the people in those communities, with my engagement officers ensuring the community voice features in community safety decisions, a best in class call-handling capability and every indicator shows the confidence of the public in the force is growing.

“However, now is not the time for complacency and during the past year my mind has been on how we move to the next level, to become recognised as being outstanding.

“Merely having that realistic ambition for the force is illustrative of the scale of the change we have seen in Humberside Police.”

Funds provided by Mr Hunter and, more recently by the Government, have seen a sharp rise in officer numbers following a recruitment drive.

He said: “The story this report presents is a really positive one of continuing progress, improvement and delivery from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Humberside Police and the other services we commission and support in our efforts to deliver safer communities and support victims.

“It is worth again just reflecting where we were in 2016 when I was voted into office. Humberside Police had sufficient funding for about 1,550 officers but had actually only 1,420 - down from a height of over 2,200.”