Policing Pledge

The Policing Pledge is a set of promises to the public that not only commits us to giving you more information about who your local Safer Neighbourhood Officers are, but also ensures that you will be better informed about policing issues, and that you will have a stronger voice in telling us about what you think are the most important policing issues.

Introduced in December 2008, the Pledge is part of a national programme of reform to increase public confidence in how crime is tackled and justice is delivered.

The Pledge talks about ten areas of service and includes standards for answering calls promptly, how you can have a say over how your neighbourhood is policed, how you can expect to receive up to date information about local crime and how you will be supported if you are a victim of crime.

If you live in North Yorkshire, the good news is that we have been working hard to become even more focused on our local communities, and what they want from their local policing service. We are already meeting the requirements of the Policing Pledge on most occasions, and our officers will provide you with a clear explanation on the rare occasions where we fail to meet our commitment.

Our Policing Pledge to you consists of the following ten promises:

1. Always treat you fairly with dignity and respect ensuring you have fair access to our services at a time that is reasonable and suitable for you.

This is at the heart of everything we are trying to achieve within North Yorkshire and the City of York, linking into the Safer Neighbourhoods Strategy, our Citizen Focus program and ultimately the vision, to provide the best possible policing service for the community of the North Yorkshire Policing area.

2. Provide you with information so you know who your dedicated Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team is, where they are based, how to contact them and how to work with them.

This is a key part of our delivery of Safer Neighbourhoods - the way we conduct our core business. Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the force use posters to assist in the publication of the work they do, supported by our website, which provides details on the teams and other information that the public may need.

3. Ensure your Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team and other police patrols are visible and on your patch at times when they will be most effective and when you tell us you most need them. We will ensure your team are not taken away from neighbourhood business more than is absolutely necessary. They will spend at least 80% of their time visibly working in your neighbourhood, tackling your priorities. Staff turnover will be minimised.

Safer Neighbourhoods Policing within North Yorkshire is well developed, with teams across the force working towards the priorities identified by their local community alongside the key crime reduction issues identified through intelligence gathering and information provided by the community. Abstractions of officers on these teams is being kept to a minimum, with officers working within their dedicated neighbourhoods at least 80% of the time.

4. Respond to every message directed to your Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team within 24 hours and, where necessary, provide a more detailed response as soon as we can.

Work has been recently completed to ensure there are appropriate processes in place to make sure that our Safer Neighbourhood Teams all provide access to the public via both e-mail and voicemail, supported by a clear system to ensure that these messages are responded to in compliance with the policing pledge. This contact information is available for every team via this website and also by calling 0845 60 60 247.

5. Aim to answer 999 calls within 10 seconds, deploying to emergencies immediately giving an estimated time of arrival, getting to you safely, and as quickly as possible. In urban areas, we will aim to get to you within 15 minutes and in rural areas within 20 minutes.

This is a current performance indicator for the force. The control room constantly monitor their performance in this area and are working hard to ensure that they comply with these requirements consistently.

6. Answer all non-emergency calls promptly. If attendance is needed, send a patrol giving you an estimated time of arrival, and:

• If you are vulnerable or upset aim to be with you within 60 minutes.
• If you are calling about an issue that we have agreed with your community will be a neighbourhood priority and attendance is required, we will aim to be with you within 60 minutes.
• Alternatively, if appropriate, we will make an appointment to see you at a time that fits in with your life and within 48 hours.
• If agreed that attendance is not necessary we will give you advice, answer your questions and/or put you in touch with someone who can help.

We have implemented a new call handling system which clearly identifies local priorities to our call centre staff, ensuring that these are dealt with within the required period, and providing them with additional information regarding that issue. Our local Incident Management Units will also be happy to arrange appointments where this is appropriate following the initial call. If you are vulnerable or upset, our staff are being trained to identify this, and to deal with you appropriately.

7. Arrange regular public meetings to agree your priorities, at least once a month, giving you a chance to meet your local team with other members of your community. These will include opportunities such as surgeries, street briefings and mobile police station visits which will be arranged to meet local needs and requirements.

Each of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams hold regular public meetings, which are usually held in conjunction with our partners. These are advertised through local media and posters, details can also be found under the team pages on this website. Each team also holds meetings with a variety of local community groups, Facebook, online meetings or locally through the use of mobile police stations.

8. Provide monthly updates on progress, and on local crime and policing issues. This will include the provision of crime maps, information on specific crimes and what happened to those brought to justice, details of what action we and our partners are taking to make your neighbourhood safer and information on how your force is performing.

Monthly updates and information about what has happened to those brought to justice and what we are doing to make the area where you live even safer are a standard feature of public meetings held by the Safer Neighbourhood teams, and are provided verbally, through posters and via the website. The media is also used to help publicise these messages at a local level.

North Yorkshire Police publicise our crime maps via the Safer Neighbourhood page on this website. This system also includes information on police performance at a local level. Please note that as North Yorkshire is one of the safest places in England, there is very little deviation in the low crime levels around the county. Small fluctuations in actual crime numbers of crimes can therefore result in high swings in the percentage changes.

9. If you have been a victim of crime agree with you how often you would like to be kept informed of progress in your case and for how long. You have the right to be kept informed at least every month if you wish and for as long as is reasonable.

10. Acknowledge any dissatisfaction with the service you have received within 24 hours of reporting it to us. To help us fully resolve the matter, discuss with you how it will be handled, give you an opportunity to talk in person to someone about your concerns and agree with you what will be done about them and how quickly.

This approach should already be taken by all managers within North Yorkshire Police when receiving a complaint from a member of the public regarding the service they have received. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received, you can find out how to get in touch with us on the Contact Us page.