NORTH Yorkshire’s crime commissioner wants protecting vulnerable people to be the priority of the county’s police force – and an emphasis on quality and safety over crime statistics.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan has unveiled a revised, draft police and crime plan following consultation with the public.

Under the new goals and objectives set for Chief Constable Dave Jones, Mrs Mulligan has outlined how she wants protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults to be a top priority for the force.

The PCC’s office said Mrs Mulligan wanted to “take a different approach to others in the country” by focusing on quality and performance over statistics. But also wanted the force to “become the safest county in England, or at least remaining in the top three”.

The report identified protecting vulnerable people as one of the most complex and sensitive areas of policing that was likely to need “increased resources” and working more closely with other organisations.

The draft crime plan said this partly could be achieved by increasing the number of successful prosecutions for sexual and domestic abuse, hate crime and other offences against vulnerable adults and children and to help victims to cope and recover.

Other aims were to review services provided by other organisations to vulnerable people across North Yorkshire, improving support of victims of child sexual abuse and their families through the criminal justice process.

Mrs Mulligan also wants that services that protect vulnerable adults such as intelligence-led police operations, identifying hate crime and developing No Cold Calling Zones to continue to be developed.

Priorities were also set for specific districts within North Yorkshire. In Richmondshire and Hambleton this was road safety, cross-border crime, police visibility and anti-social behaviour.

The other three over-all priorities proposed for North Yorkshire Police were:

• Cutting crime and anti-social behaviour.

• Focusing on prevention and early intervention.

• Improving victim care by tackling repeat victimisation and greater use of “restorative justice” which gives the victim the opportunity to explain to an offender how they have been affected by the crime and the offender looks at the extent of the damage done and makes amends.

Mrs Mulligan said she now wanted people and communities to read the plan and give their feedback.

She said: “This plan has been developed after spending a lot of time finding out what the public want from their police locally. I hope the priorities reflect what people feel on the ground.”

To view the refreshed police and crime plan, visit; www.northyorkshire-pcc.gov.uk/police-crime-plan/ and send any feedback to Julia Mulligan’s office by email to; info@northyorkshire-pcc.gov.uk by November 12.