A POLICE force has unveiled a £3.4m strategy to tackle crimes targeted towards vulnerable people.

North Yorkshire Police said it was reshaping its priorities and aiming to develop officers' skill sets to boost its ability to protect victims of violent and sexual crimes, domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation.

Police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan said the transformation of the force followed savings in areas including the number of standalone police stations, reviewing shifts and police officer ranks and through technological changes.

She said analysis of the times visitors went to police stations had also led to consideration of their opening hours.

Mrs Mulligan said the strategy will see the force’s serious crime team "expand substantially", but was unable to say by how much at this stage.

The initiative will also see the expansion of the Integrated Offender Management team, which works to help stop reoffending and the digital forensics unit, which investigates cases involving modern technology such as tablets and smartphones.

Other key parts of the strategy include creating a Historical Child Abuse Investigation Team to investigate allegations of historical sexual abuse and increasing the force's capacity to tackle cybercrime and online fraud, building on the team that was established last year.

Mrs Mulligan said the plan reflected calls from the public to prioritise protecting vulnerable people above all else, at a time of increasing reported abuse and other crimes and exponential growth in the use of smartphones and tablets, which may need to be forensically examined.

It also follows several reviews last year, including one by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies that found most forces, including North Yorkshire Police, needed to improve their work for those most easily targeted by criminals.

She said: "The strategy reflects the changing world, but that does not mean we will not continue to also focus on crimes such as burglaries.

"The force has been carefully considering its approach to these issues for a while now, however it is fair to say that over recent weeks, we have been greatly assisted by our improved finances."

Chief Constable Dave Jones added: “The internet provides for increased opportunities for offenders, investigative challenges for policing and new ways of thinking about how we can protect people in their own homes, as well as out in their communities. The frontline in tackling such crimes is more and more in our own front rooms.