THE new Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police says officer numbers will reach their highest level in years within months.

Lisa Winward was formally approved as Chief Constable on Wednesday, after taking on the role temporarily when Dave Jones retired suddenly earlier this year.

Although the force has budgeted for 1,400 officers for years, the actual number of officers has been far below, despite several recruitment campaigns, but Chief Constable Winward said that was about to change, and “the projection is, within this financial year, so by March 31, the force should have 1,400 officers”.

This figure, she said, factored in new recruits and experienced transferees to the force, with “an intake of about 140 officers” due to join within months, but also the number of officers expected to leave or retire in that time.

Chief Constable Winward said unexpected departures may have an effect on that number, but despite further budget cuts expected in coming years, she was determined to ensure frontline policing remained safe.

She said: “We have more money if we recruit brand new people all the time, versus people with 20 years service, and that makes a difference to the budget.

“Some really important information comes from people in local neighbourhoods, so neighbourhood policing is very much important part of the picture. We would rather consider how we better share facilities with other partners than cut people - we will look at all other options before removing people.”

The Chief Constable said that concerns over police visibility had been raised with her, but “being visible doesn’t always mean a person in a yellow jacket on the street”, and the rollout of electronic mobile devices to officers had seen exploration of Facebook and WhatsApp groups set up to ensure local communities could contact their local officers.

Going forward, Chief Constable Winward said the force was working with partner agencies to "holistically look at how better to structure the force to work more efficiently in line with national policing aims and to deliver against our own police and crime plan".

York Press: Temporary Chief Constable Lisa Winward and North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan at the opening of the new Force Control Room building at Fulford Road Picture Frank Dwyer.

Chief Constable Lisa Winward with Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan

Ongoing issues with the non-emergency call system "still need to get better", the Chief Constable said, and there would still be challenges ahead.

But Chief Constable Winward said she would look to do what was best for the public and for the force, and would only take decisions which affected the service if they could be justified.

She said: "I joined the police service to serve the public and I will do what's right to serve them and in order to do that, I have to support and look after our staff, make them feel valued and invest in them. 

"If the PCC wanted to do something specific, I would sit down with her, find our her reasons and the impact on staff and public, as we have to put them first. 

"Julia is elected to serve the public as well, so we have both got a common endeavour to serve the public as best we can, but sometimes we come from different angles. We should be able to articulate our rationale [about decisions] to the public, and if we can't do that, then perhaps it's not right."