NEW INVESTIGATION hubs are being created by North Yorkshire Police which should speed-up the justice process.

The force is introducing the new approach to dealing with “volume crime” which accounts for the majority of offences police deal, with such as burglary and theft.

From next month (April) investigation hubs will open in Northallerton, Harrogate, York and Scarborough. They will work alongside the force’s Serious Crime Teams and Major Crime Unit, which will still deal with more serious and complex offences.

They will be based alongside each of the force’s custody suites and by reducing bail time and duplication should also free up frontline officers.

The hubs will be a major change from the previous system where investigations cut across a number of different police functions and were slowed down by the time lost in the handover. A victim could also find they were dealing with a number of different police departments throughout an investigation.

Under the new system, police say they will be able to provide "a start-to-finish process" for the majority of investigations, beginning with a handover from a frontline officer, through to charging a suspect.

They will be made up of detectives, uniformed officers and police staff and equipped with the technology to carry out on-the-spot CCTV processing, drug testing and examination of mobile devices for evidence, which should reduce delays in gathering evidence caused when it was handed over to different departments.

The hubs will also work closely with the new Supporting Victims Unit, recently introduced by Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Julia Mulligan.

The move is part of North Yorkshire Police’s operational policing model launched last year; a major rethink of its policing strategy as it faces changing changing policing and financial challenges.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy, who is leading the operational policing model, said: “We are taking action now, to ensure that North Yorkshire Police is equipped to deliver a better service to victims of crime, now and into the future, despite the financially constrained times ahead.”

Mrs Mulligan said: “The public tell me that their number one priority is their local neighbourhood policing team, and there are other issues such as child sexual exploitation and domestic abuse, which need more resources.

“These demands, alongside a shrinking budget, mean changes have to be made. The investigation hubs will free up local officer time, allowing them to handover detainees rather than spend hours in the station filling in forms.”