Campaign encourages residents to have their say on policing

Today see the announcement of the launch of a Cumbria Constabulary campaign to encourage more residents to speak out about policing issues in their neighbourhoods.

The eight week long initiative will form the second phase of the Constabulary’s confidence campaign (launched in February 2010) and aims to address the number one priority for police in Cumbria - tackling the issues that matter most to the people living in each community.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of ‘Safer, Stronger Community’ meetings and urge local residents who haven’t yet attended to go along and meet the policing team that looks after their area.

The meetings are held monthly and provide people with the opportunity to discuss policing issues in their community, see what police are doing to tackle these issues, find out about local crime figures and, crucially, vote on the issues they want local officers to tackle as a priority.

Assistant Chief Constable Jerry Graham said: “We have certain priorities that affect the whole of Cumbria, such as reducing crime and making the county’s roads safer, but the key to providing a quality policing service lies in identifying and solving those unique neighbourhood issues that have an impact on local people’s lives.

“You might be concerned about speeding outside a particular school, criminal damage in a local park or rowdy behaviour outside your house that keeps you and your neighbours awake at night. These are the issues that neighbourhood police officers want to resolve, so that we can make a real difference to the quality of life in communities across Cumbria.

“To achieve this and make a difference to your lives, we need the support of the community. We need you to attend our Safer Stronger Community meetings and speak to your neighbourhood police officers, to tell them about your issues and provide information that will help us identify those responsible.

“Last year we successfully worked alongside communities to reduce overall crime by 8.8 per cent – which meant that there were over 2700 less victims of crime in Cumbria. We want this success to continue and by getting more people involved with police through Safer Stronger Community Meetings, they will see the results for themselves and remain confident in the high standards of service we provide.”

The second arm of Cumbria Constabulary’s confidence campaign will see officers display posters and distribute postcards amongst communities to raise awareness of the Safer Stronger Community meetings taking place in each neighbourhood.

To find out when and where your local SSC meeting is taking place, contact your local neighbourhood policing team on 0845 33 00 247.