The election of the next Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire takes place on 6 May. There are four candidates: read about them all here
Clamping down on serious crime, rural crime and antisocial behaviour would among York-based lecturer and TV writer Alison Hume’s top priorities.
But the most important issue for her would be tackling violence against women and girls, using some of the commissioner’s £5m pot for victims to introduce a clear strategy working across all agencies and attract further funding to get to grips with what she describes as “a national emergency”.
She said: “If this was happening to men, dare I say it would have been dealt with.”
Ms Hume said the greatest challenge for the incoming commissioner would be to connect with the public. She said: “You have to be the voice of the people and for the last nine years we’ve had a commissioner who hasn’t been visible and approachable.”
Ms Hume added tackling County Lines was “clearly number one on the list” of challenges for North Yorkshire Police. She said: “Crime gangs are ripping our families and communities apart. support the creation of a specialist enforcement unit to track criminals on roads and railways and support drug diversion schemes to reduce harm and demand.
“The people who get caught up in County Lines are not criminals, they are victims, we need to build safe services to prevent them going into a life of crime. North Yorkshire does not get a fair share of the pie and I will be fighting at a national level for better funding.”
She said she would establish a rural crime taskforce in every district, with officers trained in dealing with offences ranging from domestic abuse to wildlife crime.
She added: “I think the public would be shocked to know the rural crime taskforce is just a handful of officers and they have to cover the whole of North Yorkshire.”