The unequivocal commitment of the new Chief Constable Lisa Windward to increase to 1,400 the number of North Yorkshire police officers (The Press, August 18) is welcome. This is a small step in the right direction, but one which puts her clearly at odds with her Police & Crime Commissioner.

Mrs Mulligan’s mantra is that there is more to policing than just police officer numbers. And she has been conducting a PR campaign over the past two months in an attempt to convince us that the withdrawal of officers from the frontline has no detrimental effect.

I would have been more impressed had Ms Woodward made a commitment to restore the level of police officers to the 2007 peak of 1,611. For it is no coincidence that the erosion of police officer numbers by over 200 during the last ten years has led to spiralling street crime, an explosion in disorder, a mushrooming of antisocial behaviour and a marked reduction in crime detection.

No wonder North Yorkshire police are overwhelmed with calls they cannot respond to and that officers complain about burnout. They are quite simply being run ragged. The latest 50 or so officers removed from street duty to resource a computer crime “initiative” will undoubtedly put even more pressure on the dwindling number of frontline officers and probably cause a rise in sickness absence.

The Police & Crime Commissioner’s responsibility is to provide adequate resources to tackle both the upward trend and changing nature of crime (36,000 last year) as well as the burgeoning number of violent antisocial behaviour incidents (26,000 last year). Time to support your new appointee with a total re-assessment of police officer numbers, Mrs Mulligan.

Allan Charlesworth,

Old Earswick