Source · HMICFRS

PEEL Assessment 2023-25: Cumbria Constabulary

22 July 2024 PEEL Force Inspection 3 areas for improvement

PEEL 2023-25 inspection findings for Cumbria Constabulary

Applicable forces

Areas for improvement

AFI The constabulary needs to improve how it records equality data The constabulary’s data for victims of crime shows that age and gender are well recorded, ethnicity is less well recorded, and other protected characteristics aren’t well recorded. The constabulary should be collecting this information to understand the extent to which each protected group is affected by crime, how this differs from those without the protected characteristics, and whether a different response is needed for these victims. Cumbria Constabulary

AFI The constabulary needs to strengthen the external scrutiny of its use of force and stop and search powers Cumbria Constabulary relies on the police, fire and crime commissioner’s ethics and integrity panel to provide it with external scrutiny of both stop and search and use of force. Members of the panel are independent from the police and drawn from the communities within Cumbria. Selected members of the panel review body-worn video of three stop and search encounters and three instances of police use of force every three months. They then report their findings to the full ethics and integrity panel meeting. The constabulary uses this report to provide feedback to the officers involved and their supervisors, and to inform police officer training. While the scrutiny of these incidents is very detailed, the numbers reviewed are too low to provide an overview of such activity across the whole of the constabulary. During our inspection, we identified good examples of officers receiving advice after the panel had scrutinised cases. But the constabulary needs to increase the level of scrutiny provided and to demonstrate the identification of learning and good practice. Innovative practice Cumbria Constabulary

AFI The constabulary doesn’t consistently achieve appropriate outcomes for victims Cumbria Constabulary isn’t always achieving acceptable outcomes for victims of crime. It has low numbers of crimes that are solved following investigations. It needs to understand the issue and work to achieve better outcomes for victims. In the year ending 30 September 2023, Cumbria Constabulary recorded 30,110 victim-based crimes. It assigned 13.1 percent of these offences an ‘offenders brought to justice’ outcome, compared to 13.3 percent in the year ending 30 September 2022. This was higher than expected compared to the average for forces in England and Wales. But the constabulary should improve this rate to better support victims of crime. been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or a corporate body. Offences brought to justice includes the following outcomes: charged/summonsed, caution (youths), caution (adults), taken into consideration, offender dies, penalty notices for disorder, cannabis/khat warning, community resolution, not in public interest (Crown Prosecution Service), and diversionary, educational or intervention activity. been revised since. Victim-based crimes are defined as all police-recorded crimes where there is a direct victim, such as an individual, an organisation or a corporate body. been revised since. British Transport Police and City of London data is excluded from the England and Wales rate. Total police-recorded crime includes all crime (except fraud). For a full commentary and explanation of crime and outcome types please see the Home Office statistics. Cumbria Constabulary