West Yorkshire police praised for keeping people safe
The latest HMIC report rated the force 'good' when it comes to reducing crime and keeping people safe.
Police forces in other parts of the region and across the UK could learn from officers here in West Yorkshire.
That's according to the latest report from Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary which rated the force 'good' when it comes to reducing crime and keeping people safe.
The report does recommend improvements in certain areas such as keeping vulnerable people safe.
"It has a strong focus on crime and antisocial behaviour prevention," says HMI for the North, Mike Cunningham.
"There are some areas for improvement around how it allocates crimes to be investigated but the overall assessment was that West Yorkshire are doing a good job. They also have a good understanding of the threat posed by serious and organised crime.
"Clearly the force has ambiition to be veen better so I think there is always scope for more enhanced problem-solving work with other agencies. It also needs to make sure that it continues to dismantle and disrupt serious and organised crime."
The report warns that nationally, further cuts to neighbourhood policing could make forces less able to prevent crime and keep people safe in the future.
"Frontline neighbourhood police officers have told us repeatedly that they are being pulled from their vitally important preventative work in communities to fulfil other duties, like guarding crime scenes, spending time in stations investigating crimes or staffing police station front counters," it says.
"Losing our eyes and ears in the community is only likely to hamper good performance in preventing crime."
In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Russ Foster, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “At both ends of the scale, from low level crime and anti-social behaviour to serious and organised crime, the good rating from HMIC reflects the hard work and determination of officers to tackle criminality and protect communities.
"This is an extremely challenging county to police and we are continuously improving our effectiveness, refining processes and making good use of new technology."
“There are a number of areas for improvement identified by HMIC, which we are already addressing or in the processing of reviewing, to ensure we provide the best possible service to victims, particularly the most vulnerable.”