Harrogate Lib Dem's plea for a return to 'proper community policing' in response to burglary figures for North Yorks

By Graham Chalmers
Published 14th Feb 2024, 16:17 BST
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Harrogate's Lib Dem candidate for the General Election has returned to his attacks on "ineffective resourcing" which he says has left police forces in North Yorkshire overstretched and unable to focus on frontline crime like burglaries.

Tom Gordon renewed his criticism after national analysis from the Liberal Democrats revealed that 1,765 burglaries went unsolved across North Yorkshire in the year ending September 2023.

Based on figures sourced from Crime Outcomes in England and Wales, year to September 2023, published by the Home Office, the Lib Dems say that means five burglaries in North Yorkshire go unsolved each day.

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Mr Gordon is calling for a return to “proper community policing”, where officers are visible, trusted and focused on tackling neighbourhood crime.

Tom Gordon, Harrogate's Lib Dem candidate for the General Election, has returned to his attacks on "ineffective resourcing" for policing in North Yorkshire. (Picture contributed)Tom Gordon, Harrogate's Lib Dem candidate for the General Election, has returned to his attacks on "ineffective resourcing" for policing in North Yorkshire. (Picture contributed)
Tom Gordon, Harrogate's Lib Dem candidate for the General Election, has returned to his attacks on "ineffective resourcing" for policing in North Yorkshire. (Picture contributed)

And he said he was backing his national party new Burglary Response Guarantee plan in which all domestic burglaries would be attended by the police and properly investigated.

“With the vast majority of burglaries still going unsolved in Harrogate and Knaresborough, too many people feel unsafe in their own homes” said Mr Gordon.

“Time and again, the Conservative Government has failed to deliver the absolute basics of stopping and solving crime.

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"I will keep pushing the Conservatives to implement our Burglary Response Guarantee and get more bobbies on the beat.”

Mr Gordon last raised his attack on the Government’s “police under-funding” in North Yorkshire last October.

But the Government claimed in April 2023 it had hit its 2019 manifesto pledge of recruiting 20,000 additional police officers nationally.

More information: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/crime-outcomes-year-to-september-2023-data-tables