ALMOST 400 police officers in North Yorkshire did not make an arrest last year.

Figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act revealed 383 officers made no arrests between the start of April 2011 and the end of March this year.

The details provided by the force showed a further 260 officers made five or fewer arrests.

At the other end of the scale, 11 North Yorkshire Police officers made more than 100 arrests during 2011/12.

A further 735 North Yorkshire officers arrested between six and 50 people during 2011/12, with 131 having an arrest tally of between 51 and 100.

North Yorkshire Police pointed to several reasons why some officers would not have made any arrests, saying the figure of 383 included those on long-term sick leave, on secondments, career breaks, maternity leave or in specialist roles where arrests would not be their primary role.

“It must be acknowledged that senior officers and supervisors – sergeant and above – who set objectives, direct resources and monitor performance are less likely to make arrests than those officers at the rank of constable working in neighbourhoods, road policing units or as detectives,” said the force in its response to the FOI request.

“The action of arrest, if used alone, would be an extremely crude measure of the effectiveness of the police service.”

The arrest figures for North Yorkshire Police during 2010/11 have also been confirmed through the FOI response, showing that no arrests were made by 404 officers during that time, and 250 officers arrested five or fewer people.

However, 772 officers made between six and 50 arrests, 133 made between 51 and 100 arrests, and eight officers had more than 100 arrests in that time.