A WATCHDOG has claimed North Yorkshire Police needs to improve the fairness and respect it shows the people the force serves.

The latest report into the force's legitimacy by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS, formerly HMIC), rated North Yorkshire Police as 'Good' overall.

Inspectors said the force was "good at ensuring its workforce behaves ethically and lawfully", and "good at treating its workforce with fairness and respect", but the way it treated the general public "requires improvement".

The report said use of stop and search by the force was above the national average (5.5 compared to 4.8), and lacked proper external scrutiny into how these powers were used.

It said: "The force does not have robust processes in place to scrutinise its use of stop and search powers, which is a concern to HMICFRS. The force should also improve how it encourages external scrutiny and challenge, in order to improve the extent to which it treats the public with fairness and respect.

The inspectors also said they were "disappointed" with the level of external scrutiny, and said the force's independent advisory groups - which were set up to deal with some force areas - were "not in a position to provide effective scrutiny".

Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said she was pleased to see another ‘good’ report from the watchdog, but she acknowledged there were issues which needed to be addressed.

She said: "There were a number of areas highlighted for improvement, many of which I have been raising with the Chief Constable for some time now, and I am keen to see improvements as soon as possible.

"I agree more needs to be done to improve how North Yorkshire Police engages with diverse people and communities via Independent Advisory Groups."

Mrs Mulligan said improvements can be made in the complaints department, and "customer service is a priority".

She said: "Notwithstanding the concerns set out in HMICFRS’s report, I have no doubt North Yorkshire Police are working hard to improve the diversity of our workforce and areas of business like Stop and Search and Independent Advisory Groups. Given that hard work, and a clear willingness to improve, I expect to see positive change in the short term."

Mrs Mulligan also said she would consider whether "an Ethics Board might help the Chief Constable and I ensure we see improvements sooner rather than later".