Yorkshire Post Manifesto: Crime

All four Yorkshire police forces – West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside – expect to see funding squeezed to tackle Britain's budget deficit.

But reductions are nothing new in Yorkshire. The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has reported that, although numbers have risen by 4.8 per cent in five years across England and Wales, a third of forces have seen levels drop.

They include South Yorkshire, the worst-affected force in the country, which saw a seven per cent decline between 2004 and 2009, and Humberside, which recorded a five per cent fall over the same period.

South Yorkshire anticipates "severe funding cuts" and "significant" further reductions. West Yorkshire expects to have a "leaner workforce", North Yorkshire predicts "some shrinkage" and Humberside already plans to cut 300 officers.

Police officer numbers in England and Wales were 143,770 – a record – on March 31, 2009.

This was an increase of 1,911 compared to a year earlier.

But 16 police forces, including three in Yorkshire, saw officer numbers fall.

South Yorkshire Police saw the sharpest decline in England and Wales.

CASE STUDY:MORE WITH LESS

Yorkshire's police forces aim to overcome the public spending squeeze by working more closely together than ever before.

This is already happening with the Regional Roads Policing team which brings together officers from all four forces to catch crooks using Yorkshire's roads for illegal enterprises.

Mark Whyman, the region's deputy chief constable, said that it had already seized drugs, cash, stolen vehicles and property worth 6m from criminals.

Regional Roads Policing Commander, Chief Inspector Mick Hunter, said: "Our aim has been to make it uncomfortable for the criminals; they will no longer be able to transcend force boundaries to get away with committing crime."

A regional intelligence unit and an asset recovery team are already in operation, and a new regional crime unit made up of cross-border detectives is due to begin work.