Cumbria Constabulary launches Community Policing Week

Cumbria Constabulary is today launching a week-long campaign to highlight what goes on in local communities to make Cumbria one of the safest places in the country.

The campaign will run from 11^th – 18^th February to coincide with the school half term holidays and will shine a light on the work that police carry out on a daily basis in communities across the county.

The week-long campaign follows on from the impressive statistics released by the Home Office last month which confirmed that crime had reduced by eight per cent in Cumbria in 2012 – a success that police officers put down to their approach to community policing.

In a bid to highlight what community policing means, police plan to do a week-long focus on the work that officers do within neighbourhoods so that residents understand exactly what is being done in their community and why.

Assistant Chief Constable Jerry Graham said “Our recent eight per cent reduction in crime is fantastic news for the Constabulary and the people of Cumbria.

“Cumbria Constabulary’s high performance is down to the strong relationship officers’ share with local communities. Local people care about making Cumbria a better place and we wouldn’t consistently achieve the low levels of crime and anti-social behaviour without local people working alongside us to improve the quality of life in the county.

“We know that the majority of the public work from 9-5 so may not be aware of what police do in their neighbourhood on a daily basis. This campaign is designed to show local people the range of things that police officers do to keep make our streets safer 24/7, 365 days a year.”

A range of activities and events are planned for the week – details of these can be found on Cumbria Constabulary’s website: www.cumbria.police.uk

Police officers will also be using social media to publicise these events and the good work that goes on with communities in Cumbria. A Twitter hashtag #cumbriapolicing will be used throughout the duration of the campaign.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Richard Rhodes added “Community policing is at the very heart of the police service in Cumbria and its success is down to visible pro-active policing in the community which is one of my proposed policing priorities for the next four years.

“Community Policing Week is a great way for the Constabulary to demonstrate their commitment to communities and showcase the excellent work that is being undertaken to build relationships at a local level.”