More about this area
The force says...
Cumbria is the fourth largest police force area in England and is geographically isolated being the furthest North West force in the country. Some 98 percent of its area is rural with only one city and five major towns. Much of the county is mountainous and it contains the country’s largest national park – Lake District (885 square miles) – as well as having a 150-mile coastline. Topography and rurality makes the county vulnerable to natural and other disasters – with three major floods in the past 10 years.
Cumbria hosts Appleby Fair, the largest travellers’ gathering in Europe, and several major summer festivals. The population is small (498,000) and sparse, however 47 million people visit the county every year.
Cumbria has areas of significant deprivation, where the police and partners formally work together, often co-located, to improve the lives of residents.
Cumbria is also host to the largest shipyard in the UK: BAE Systems in Barrow; and Sellafield, a multi-function nuclear site in West Cumbria – both of whom are key partners in emergency planning and community resilience situations. Demand in Cumbria has changed significantly and is becoming ever more complex, necessitating a professional and agile workforce; established relationships and joint processes with emergency and other partners.
During 2021, 221,000 calls and 42,500 digital contacts were received, with 64,000 of these being emergency calls, an increase of 9.4% from the previous year. These resulted over 95,900 incidents and 35,000 crimes being recorded.
3400 Missing Person investigations were conducted; and mental health was a factor in 11.1% of all incidents, resulting in 22,000 police referrals for joint partnership intervention.
Anyone who contacts Cumbria Police will speak directly with an experienced Police officer, enabling resolvable issues to be addressed over the phone, therein freeing up time to deploy response officers and investigators to ensure the greatest effect upon protecting the public.
Disclaimer: the above statement has been prepared by Cumbria Constabulary. The views and information in it are not necessarily those of HMICFRS.