MANAGING police officers should not be about "shuffling numbers on a board", the chair of North Yorkshire Police Federation has said.

Responding to this week's speech by Home Secretary Theresa May, Sergeant Mike Stubbs said the focus on vulnerable victims "failed to acknowledge the massive changes" made by the police service, and ignored the force was "stretched ever thinner" due to Government cuts.

Speaking to the Police Federation Annual Conference, Mrs May said: "There is still a long way to go. Victims of abuse are still being let down and reports are not being taken seriously enough. The right skills, training and commitment to protect the vulnerable are still not held by every single police officer.

"Domestic abuse is a crime. Sexual assault is a crime. Child sexual abuse is a crime. Modern slavery is a crime. And the victims and survivors of those crimes deserve to be heard now, just as they should have been years ago, and they deserve justice, just as they did then."

Sgt Stubbs said that although ministers were quick to attribute rises in recorded crime to improved victim confidence, this increased number of victims required extra resources.

He said: "There was brief mention of improved training, without any indication of how that would be funded. There was little recognition of the difficulties that investigating historical allegations posed. Those investigations can be complex and resource-intensive.

"These types of investigations can be traumatic for those dealing with victims and with some types of evidence, particularly relating to child sexual abuse. Moving police resources into this type of work should not simply be about shuffling numbers on a board. We need to ensure that officers who are expected to undertake this type of investigations are the right individuals. Otherwise we risk compromising the service that is given to vulnerable victims, as well as the mental wellbeing of the officers who carry out these very sensitive investigations."

Recently, Sgt Stubbs told The Press the number of officers applying to train in certain areas, including firearms, was low due in part to public perception of the role, and this problem could also be faced with some areas of investigation.

He said: "The point that appears to have been completely missed by the Home Secretary was that, just as not every police officer will be suitable to be trained as a firearms officer, not every police officer will have the skills and, just as importantly, the suitability and wish to work in what can be a deeply distressing area of investigation."