THE region’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has vowed to ‘keep a close eye’ on the way police deal with crimes outside of the court process.

The police can use out of court disposals (OCDs) to provide simple, quick and proportionate ways to deal with low-level offending, which avoids court action and focuses on the needs and wishes of the victim.

In 2014 North Yorkshire PCC Julia Mulligan set up the OCD Scrutiny Panel in response to public concerns about the use of disposals as a means of bringing offenders to justice.

Its second annual report has now been published and reveals that last year the police used OCDs in 35 per cent of crimes they resolved in North Yorkshire.

The scrutiny panel found that in 4 per cent of those cases, the victims ‘views had not been adequately taken into account.

Ms Mulligan said: “I remain concerned victims’ views aren’t sought on every occasion, nor are those views always recorded well on police systems. I will continue to keep a very close eye on this area of police business.”