Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, welcomes the drop in crime in the county at his Public Accountability Conference on 7 December 2023. Cumbria Constabulary is rated among the best polices forces in the country for fighting crime and tackling anti-social behaviour. This means that Cumbria’s communities are safer and a reduced number of victims.

Overall crime in Cumbria was reduced by 8.6% in the financial year-to-date, compared to the same period last year – which meant there were about 2,000 fewer victims of crime compared to the same period the year before.

There was a 25% fall in the category of neighbourhood crime, which include offences of particular concern to the public such as house burglaries, in the year up to November.

Offences involving knives or sharp weapons – another area of criminality which causes concern to the public – were also down by 25% in this period.

Conviction rates at court for domestic abuse were sitting at 90% in September, against a national average of 76%. Consistently Cumbria is above the national average.

Cumbria Constabulary was ranked fourth nationally out of the 43 police services in England and Wales for the mean percentage of 999 calls answered in under 10 seconds in October. The force is consistently in the top 10. More than 96% of all 101 non-emergency calls were answered within five minutes in October, with a caller speaking to a police officer in that time without having to leave their home and go into a station.

Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said: “I am of course pleased to see crime continue to fall across the county by 8.6%. This reflects the offender-focused approach that the Constabulary has adopted catching more criminals, bringing them to justice and sends a clear message that they should not come to Cumbria to commit their crimes as they will be caught and face the consequences.

“Neighbourhood crime is the area of crime more likely to affect us, and therefore it’s good to see that the biggest reduction took place within this crime type.  I am especially pleased to see the effect of more dedicated neighbourhood officers across the county dealing with the issues that concern residents.

“The increase in conviction rates for domestic abuse in Cumbria should demonstrate that Cumbria Police take these crimes extremely seriously and I hope it encourages those who are dealing with abuse to come forward and report – especially women and girls who are more likely to experience this type of violence.

“The end of year performance reports at PAC are essential to see the changing trends in crime and gives me the opportunity to scrutinise the force and, more importantly, to scrutinise what is being done to address areas of concern and any  increased figures.

“The performance of the Constabulary in the last year has really highlighted the dedication of the Constabulary to reduce crime across the county and provide the best result possible for those who are victims.  We continue to be well served by our Police in Cumbria but there is of course always more to be done.

“Overall, the Constabulary are doing a fantastic job to tackle and prevent crime, but I would still urge the public to report any crimes to 999 and 101.

“I will continue to hold the Chief Constable to account in future PAC meetings and will continue to keep you informed of how the Constabulary are combatting crime.”

Deputy Chief Constable Darren Martland said: “Our officers have continued to work hard round-the-clock in the last year to deter and solve crime and keep people safe.

“There were more than 2,000 fewer victims of crime in this period and offences that cause great concern to the public, such as burglary and knife crime, decreased.

“The nature of crime changes as society changes. More offences are taking place online and are of a far more complex nature and therefore significantly more time-consuming.

“But despite the demand, throughout this time we have continued to bring in new developments to improve the service to the public.

“Among these are the launch of our rural crime policing team, dedicated to tackling rural crime.

“We have continued the roll-out of community beat officers, who have proved crucial in tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour.

“We also launched a new, dedicated roads policing unit this year, as part of a commitment to making our county’s roads safer for all.

“We’re also proud of our success in consistently catching and putting before the courts members of organised crime groups, with significant sentences handed out to those involved in this type of offending.

“Officers and staff have seized drugs with an estimated street value of at least £6.4m in the last two years.

“We continue to target criminal finance.

“For this calendar year, we have seized suspected illegally-held cash worth a total of more than £3.3m and have investigated a total of more than £3.9m suspected criminal money.

“I’d like to thank our officers and staff for their ongoing hard work and professionalism this year and also thank the public for continuing to support and engage with the constabulary, giving us the information we need to stop crime happening and keep people safe.”