Cumbria Constabulary has cut crime in the county by more than eight per cent –with the dedication and work of officers and staff producing some of the best results recorded.

Offences that cause real concern in communities including burglary, violence, public disorder and criminal damage to property are all down significantly.

Arrests, stop-searches and offences resulting in a positive outcome such as a charge have all gone up.

Other results include:

• 96.5 per cent of 999 calls were answered in 10 seconds last month.
• Convictions in domestic abuse cases heard at court sat at 85.7 per cent in November – the latest figure available. This is above the national average.
• Convictions in cases involving violence against women in girls heard at court sat at 81.3 per cent in November – the third best in the country.

The results follow a range of measures brought in over the last 18 months to improve the service to the public.

These include:

• The launch of a rural crime team, dedicated to tackling rural offences.
• The continued rollout of community beat officers, who have proved crucial in tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour.
• The launch of a new, dedicated roads policing unit – made as part of a commitment to making Cumbria’s roads safer for all.
• A force restructure and increased focus on issues such as meeting response times.

Chief Constable Rob Carden said: “Cumbria is currently one of the top performing forces in the country and this is due to the hard work and professionalism of our officers and staff who are doing their utmost to deliver an outstanding policing service to keep Cumbria safe.

“I am extremely proud of what the force is achieving, and I am delighted with the improvements we have achieved in key areas such as proactivity, response to calls, standards of investigation, victim care and criminal justice outcomes.

“Arrests are going up and key crimes that cause some of the most concern to people, such as burglaries and violence against others, are going down.

“We are also doing our best to protect vulnerable people, with encouraging results at court in cases involving domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.”

He added: “One of the key ways we are going about this is by being more visible in our communities.

“The continued roll out of community beat officers as part of the expansion of neighbourhood policing is something I am particularly proud of. This has been at the heart of our success in reducing anti-social behaviour, an issue the public cares about deeply.

“I’d like to thank our officers and staff for their ongoing hard work and professionalism; their proactivity and commitment is allowing us to police on the front foot and it is clear that this approach is producing some outstanding results.

“The most important result in this is that the public of Cumbria are receiving a continually improving service, meaning more suspects are being arrested and crime is going down.

“I’d also like to thank the public for continuing to support and engage with the Constabulary, providing the information we need to stop crime happening and keep people safe.”

Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said: “I am, of course, delighted to see crime reducing across the county as a result of impressive policing and increasing resource.

“Cumbria has consistently been one of the safest counties to live in across England and Wales and we are determined to keep it that way.

“Our Constabulary is clearly focused on reducing all crime and in particular those which affect the lives of residents directly like anti-social behaviour, anti-social driving and other neighbourhood crimes, which if left unchecked can and do make life miserable for law abiding  residents .

“Our aim is to make sure the county is as safe as possible for everyone who lives in, works in and visits Cumbria.

“We are now starting to see the effect of the additional officers and resource which we have built up over the last five years with more officers on the streets, on our roads and in our rural communities.

“They are focused on seeking out crime and criminals and I would encourage the public to work with the police by reporting any and all crimes with information where possible.

“This is also a clear message to any criminals looking to come into the county and commit a crime, that Cumbria is not a soft touch from crime and you will be relentlessly pursued and brought to justice.

“I am grateful to the Chief Constable, police officers and staff who have worked incredibly hard to achieve this reduction in crime and for all of their hard work over the years and encourage the public to continue to report any crimes to 101 or 999 in an emergency.

“Of course there is always more to do but together we can make Cumbria an even safer place for everyone.”