NORTH Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe has admitted that women have lost trust in the police.

But she said steps were already being taken in the North Yorkshire force to win back that trust – and to ‘educate police staff’.

And she added: “I remain committed to the safety of women and girls and pledge to make a difference as commissioner and Victims Champion.”

Speaking after Wayne Couzens, who raped and murdered York woman Sarah Everard in 2021, was this week jailed for 19 months for three earlier incidents of ‘flashing’ between November 2020 and February 2021, Ms Metcalfe said: “Women and girls need to be listened to, they need to feel safe wherever they are and public trust and confidence in police services shouldn’t need to be in question – but unfortunately it is."

She said that her role as commissioner was 'to hold police and fire services to account for the delivery of their operation services which ensure women, girls and everyone living in York and North Yorkshire are safe and feeling safe'.

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She went on: “The further sentencing of Wayne Couzens shone a huge light on the traumatic and disturbing attacks on women that took place during his time as a serving officer, without repercussions.

“Police forces across the country need to be prioritising the identification of perpetrator behaviour, to be able to cut it off before it grows roots and embeds itself in what should be a safe environment.

“I stand by all the brave women speaking up about their horrifying experiences and my thoughts will always be with the families who have had their daughter, mother, sister or friend taken away from them by a predator.

“There is already work taking place in North Yorkshire to further educate police staff, have the right people in place and set clear principles when it comes to tackling perpetrator behaviour and supporting victims.“

Ms Metcalfe said steps being taken in North Yorkshire included:

  • a specialist stalking team was set up last year
  • police in North Yorkshire have set up a network of 84 Domestic Abuse Matters Champions
  • ‘trauma-aware’ approaches are being included in training courses for sexual offences, child protection and domestic abuse investigations
  • a Pathways App has been launched to increase officer knowledge of support services and referral pathways for victims
  • experts in child sexual and criminal exploitation, domestic abuse, missing persons, and child protection provide training to new recruits, front line officers and newly promoted sergeant.
  • IDAS worked with North Yorkshire Police to inform their Domestic Abuse Pledge launched earlier this year to support officers or staff who are victims of Domestic Abuse

Ms Metcalfe added that her office had also completed research into perpetrator programmes and interventions, including those for high risk and/or repeat domestic abusers and online sexual offenders.

But she said she was keen to hear more from members of the public about what police should be doing.

“Last year I launched a survey to gauge the level of public trust and confidence in North Yorkshire Police, which remains open and has already received 667 responses, 273 of whom are female,” she said.

“This feedback is helping to influence my wider work to promote change, ensure accountability and spread best practice and high standards of Police service.”

The Public Trust and Confidence Survey can be completed on the commissioner’s website at bit.ly/TrustConfidence