Police force’s £5 million investment to protect vulnerable in South Yorkshire

Shaun Wright wants to move 100 officers into South Yorkshire Police’s public protection units in the next two years at a cost of £5 million after pledging to “protect those most vulnerable in society”.

The funds will pay for the establishment of a new central public protection unit dealing with offences across the force as well as new recruits to work in South Yorkshire’s four district units.

His pledge comes weeks after a case of modern-day slavery in South Yorkshire made national headlines and with the force last year spending £650,000 on a team of new detectives to root out child sex abusers.

Mr Wright said there had been big increases reported nationally in child sexual exploitation, sexual assaults, hate crime and trafficking offences.

He said: “There has been a 20 per cent increase in reports of domestic violence. These figures are not unique to South Yorkshire but it goes to the core of my police and crime plan priorities.

“There is a great demand for these policing-type services, but I fundamentally believe that when resources are reduced as they currently are, as an elected representative there is a responsibility to protect those most vulnerable in society.

“The Home Secretary has said recently that modern-day slavery is significantly on the increase.”

Last month, a judge told of his despair at “man’s inhumanity to man” as he jailed three members of the same family who forced a vulnerable man with learning difficulties to live “like a slave” in their garage in Sheffield.

The proposals are being largely paid for by an increase in South Yorkshire Police’s council tax precept, as the central funding available to the force for 2014/15 has been cut by more than £9 million.

A total of 300 officers are expected to either retire or leave the force in the next two years, but the extra money will pay for 57 new recruits this year and 42 next year to replace those who are moved to jobs in public protection.

Mr Wright last week increased his portion of council tax by two per cent, meaning an annual £2.85 rise for Band D residents across the county and bringing in an extra £1 million a year to spend on services.