New-style policing for S. Lakes

8:44am Wednesday 14th July 2004

SOUTH Lakeland is one of the safest places in the UK and is getting safer thanks to a new style of community policing being pioneered in the area, according to the police.

Chief Inspector Rod Mackay, the man in charge of policing South Cumbria including Kendal, Ulverston, Barrow and the central Lakes, said that disorder, and particularly youth disorder, loom large in the public imagination.

So much so in fact, that youth disorder has been made a strategic priority for South Cumbria along with burglary, violence and class A drugs.

Community safety officer Sergeant Ernie Foster explained the force is tackling the problem at root.

He said police in South Cumbria were trying to get involved with youngsters so that the first experience a teenager had of the police was not a negative experience at the wrong end of the law but a positive one, such as in a school, or at an inter-estate football tournament.

When a youngster does fall foul of the law or is the subject of a complaint, they are given every chance to change their ways, so, as Sgt Foster said, if they end up in serious trouble they have no one to blame but themselves.

If trouble continues after an initial warning, a letter is sent to the youngster's parents. If this fails to moderate bad behaviour, officers will visit the family home. If problems persist the child is asked to sign up to an "acceptable behaviour contract".

After that, persistent offenders will face criminal charges and the possibility of serious restrictions on liberty that come with an Anti Social Behaviour Order.

But, as Sgt Foster pointed out, in most cases the prospect of a letter home or an officer on the doorstep was enough to nip bad behaviour in the bud.

Of 743 youngsters stopped by police up to March this year, only 129 warranted a letter to their parents, 47 had home visits, and only three were made to sign acceptable behaviour contracts.

Sgt Foster also said adults had a part to play, not only by telling the police when and where youth problems arose.

"We need people to realise that these are just young people and remember that they were once too. It's important that people show a bit of tolerance."

Meanwhile, those old enough to be drinking in South Lakeland's pubs and clubs have to contend with PC John Brooks from COPS team (Community Orientated Problem Solving).

As well as making sure that there are the right number of officers in the right place at the right time, PC Brooks works closely with the district council, with individual licensees and door staff to make sure pubs and bars are well run and coordinating efforts to keep undesirables out.

Surveys show that fear of crime is way out of proportion to the real level of crime.

The problem is particularly acute among older adults - those who harbour the greatest fear of personal attack are the over 60s, those who fear it least are the under 25s. However, youngsters are by far the most likely to fall victim to violent assault while unprovoked attacks on the over 60s are very rare.

National police statistics comparing this area with similar rural places such as Suffolk and Norfolk show South Cumbria is relatively crime free. Figures for December 2003 to February 2004 show that South Cumbria came second only to Buxton in Derbyshire as the most crime-free rural area in England and Wales.

As Chief Inspector Mackay points out, crime in South Cumbria running at little over half the national average this area is one of the safest in the country.