Proactive policing has enabled officers to put a big dent in Keswick’s crime figures, the October meeting of the town council was told.
Inspector Peter Aiston, of the north Cumbria neighbourhood policing team, revealed an impressive set of statistics highlighting significant drops in crime during an address he made to councillors.
His first piece of “good news” was that Keswick had now been assigned a dedicated beat officer – PC Emma Fearon – who had been touring the town introducing herself to traders and local business people as part of Safer Business Action Week.
Multiple shops were visited and staff engaged with officers with two stores in town signing up to the Schemelink initiative – a commercially operated mobile app/website which gives instant access to details and photographs of individuals who have been banned from entering licensed premises by Pubwatch schemes.
He said that the force had had some restrictive challenges which had meant that a new officer had not been assigned to Keswick at the earliest opportunity.
Inspector Aiston went on to highlight some of the police successes and started by saying that there had been a 15 per cent fall in anti-social behaviour in the town from January 1 to the end of September compared to the same period last year.
He said that Keswick had a low level of anti-social behaviour reports and described the figure as being “a really significant reduction”.
Inspector Aiston said that in September there had been only one report of anti-social behaviour in the town which he compared to Workington where there had been 31 offences.
He said that during the same period 25 crimes had been reported in Keswick with shoplifting down 40 per cent and overall theft had reduced by 50 per cent. No burglaries had been reported in that time. He equated these figures to a small area of Workington – which would cover a couple of streets in Keswick – where 38 crimes had been committed.
Inspector Aiston said that the approaching half term along with Halloween and bonfire night were a busy time for officers. But he said the force through Operation Firecracker would be dedicating resources to help prevent a rise in anti-social behaviour.
He said that last year the police reduced calls by 40 per cent through early intervention and prevention. This involved working with and visiting local shops and businesses that sell alcohol, eggs and flour and going into schools to speak with children.
“We have dedicated resources to engage with people in the town,” he said, adding: “We will deal with those causing harm robustly and I will share the results with you so that you can see whether the operation has been a success.”
