Questions over policing priorities across North Yorkshire

From: John Warren, Ripon.

IT was extremely concerning to read the latest crime statistics for North Yorkshire just released by the Office for National Statistics.

The figures reveal that North Yorkshire was one of only four counties which failed to bring a single charge for personal theft in the three months to September 2019.

Yet over a 12-month period total crimes in the county increased by 12 per cent, violence against the person went up by more than a quarter, robbery increased by a fifth and public order offences rose by 44 per cent.

Contrast this with statistics released last year relating to speeding offences in the county.

In 2018 North Yorkshire Police issued a total of 35,838 speeding tickets, a massive 45 per cent increase on the previous year.

There are no fixed speed cameras in the county, apart from temporary average speed detectors which are mostly used in conjunction with roadworks along the A1.

It therefore has to be assumed that the majority of these speeding offences were recorded by police mobile speed detector vans which have appeared on our roads in ever-increasing numbers over the past few years.

On the basis of these alarming statistics it would be entirely justifiable for residents of North Yorkshire to ask whether our Chief Constable has got her priorities seriously wrong.

We are always being told that resources are limited so surely it makes sense for police officers to be used primarily to combat crime against the person and against property rather than to target motorists often for relatively minor infringements.

It is to be hoped that the successful candidate for the role of Police Commissioner will take this issue up as a matter of urgency upon taking office before we see crime figures rise even higher in 2020.

From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.

IN response to recent correspondence on smart motorways, the risks would be marginally less if there were more police patrols on busy roads as a matter of routine. Yet I’m guessing they, too, have become victims of either austerity cuts – or the increased emphasis on speed cameras to raise revenue.

From: Henry Cobden, Ilkley.

PLEASE can Boris Johnson confirm the dates when the extra 20,000 police officers he has promised will actually go out on the beat. He needs to be judged against this commitment. We should aso be told how many will be allocated to each force area.