A new national Police Report Card has confirmed that Cumbria Constabulary continues to perform well.
The report cards are available online and have been developed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to provide a simple way for members of the community to find out the results of their inspections.
The report card for Cumbria confirms that crime rates in the county are some of the lowest in the UK, that local police continue to see success in their performance and that the Constabulary enjoys above average rates of public confidence.
Chief Constable Craig Mackey said: “Overall, we have received a good for local crime and policing as well as for confidence and satisfaction, which highlights that Cumbria Constabulary continues to consistently perform well.
“The Constabulary has undertaken a significant investment in the last five years and this long-term progress, coupled with good detection rates, is now being rewarded with less crime across the county. We are now in a good position, as our report card demonstrates, and this reflects all the hard work by staff, officers and communities to ensure that Cumbria remains one of the safest places in the UK.
“The report highlights how officers and staff have stepped up to the challenge of delivering the Policing Pledge to ensure that neighbourhood policing teams tackle the issues that matter most to local people, and this community focus will continue in the future.
“The report also acknowledges that we ‘meet the standard’ for investigating major crime thanks to the investment we made following the failed merger in 2005/06 to ensure we have the capability to tackle both neighbourhood issues and serious crime in Cumbria effectively.
“The local community should be confident that crime levels in Cumbria are low and continue to fall, meaning that fewer people are becoming victims of crime. We are committed to continuing this success and providing a value for money police force that has the resources needed to police such a large and diverse county.”
The report card goes into further detail by highlighting what the force does well in neighbourhoods, for example: engaging with communities; working with partner agencies to tackle neighbourhood problems and making Cumbria’s roads safer.
Cumbria Police Authority Chairman, Ray Cole, said: “It is really good to see Her Majesty’s Inspectors acknowledging how, under this Authority’s careful scrutiny, our Constabulary is meeting the required standard for all types of police work.
“This new report card is a public friendly document. Anyone reading it can see for themselves how Cumbria Constabulary is right up there among the top police forces in the country. The failed amalgamation proposals of 2005-6 were built around these particular services, but people can see how this Authority’s major local investment in Protective Services, including how we fight major crime, is steadily paying off with good results.
“Many organised criminals are being apprehended and convicted showing that the Constabulary is successfully meeting the required inspection standard in all categories. Couple the overall HMIC assessment of two ‘Good’ scores and one ’Fair’ with another year of crime steadily falling, detection rates rising to almost 40 per cent, and I think anyone in Cumbria will think this a very good position for their local police force to be in.”