Workington ASB

Following an increase in calls for service in Workington Town Centre relating to anti social behaviour, the Allerdale Neighbourhood Policing Team conducted an operation tackling the issue.

The operation resulted in officers making contact with the parents of four children in relation to crime and breach of previously implemented Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC). These visits will be followed up by the Child Centered Policing Team (CCPT) who will now work with those parents and other organisations to prevent a repeat of this behaviour. 

Problem Solving Sergeant Scott Adams said “ASB continues to be an operational priority for the Allerdale Neighbourhood Policing Team. 

"We know that the behaviour of a minority can have a detrimental effect on the communities we serve. We have now conducted a number of operations targeted at tackling anti-social behaviour within the town centre which has received positive feedback from staff working in the area.

"Parents and guardians can support this by speaking with their children about the impact of negative behaviour and asking for help if they feel that they need extra support. We also encourage the public to continue to report anti-social behaviour as this is the best way to direct resources to the right areas to combat these incidents. Anyone with any information regarding anti-social behaviour is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111”

Further actions taken to support tackling this issue are:

- Street Safe surveys delivered in the Hunter Street area seeking residents opinions on issues. If you have had one of these surveys we encourage you to respond.

- A child has been arrested for offences including assaults, Public Order and theft. The investigation into these matters is ongoing.

- Ten It's Your Choice forms have been issued and the children removed from the area and taken home to their parents. These are an early intervention tool used by Police to monitor repeat offenders which also engages with the Youth Offending Service (YOS). 

- Dispersal powers continue to be used when appropriate, providing Police with the power to ban offenders from the specified area. 

Drugs related issues

The neighbourhood policing team have received reports of various drug taking and drug sully in the Workington area. We are looking to develop our understanding of this issue and urge anyone with information relating to this to report the matter to Police or anonymously to Crimestoppers 0800 555 111. As a result of information received the Allerdale Proactive Team targeted an identified hotspot area resulting in the stop and search of a male who was subsequently arrested for possession of Class B Drugs. 

Safer Streets for St Michael’s Ward

Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, has secured over £310,000 to improve the safety of St Michael’s ward in Workington. Following the successful roll out of the Safer Streets Project in Barrow, the PCC is working together with Cumbria Constabulary, Cumbria County Council and Allerdale Borough Council to provide substantial improvements to residential security and public safety in St Michael’s ward delivered by the Safer Streets Team.

Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods. The Safer Streets Team want to help the people of St Michael’s to achieve that goal. Listening to resident’s concerns and using the knowledge and experience of the police and the councils, the project is focussed on helping the area, bringing three major improvements to make this goal a reality.

CCTV

Already complete is the addition of CCTV to St. Michael’s Nursery and Infant School. The school has suffered with individuals behaving in an anti-social manner near its boundaries, so installation of CCTV was a high priority.  This will make children, parents and staff feel safer and will provide police with evidence of any criminal activities or anti-social behaviour taking place on the busy route through Workington.  The CCTV was successfully installed over the summer holidays with one parent commenting:

"I feel safe having my child at St Michael's with all this extra security"

and another saying:

"It gives me peace of mind knowing everyone at St Michael's will be safer especially in this area"

Vulcans Park

Residents have complained of anti-social behaviour in Vulcan Park, saying that they don’t feel safe walking through the park at night. To combat this, Cumbria County Council and Workington Town Council will install new lighting in Vulcans Park, discouraging antisocial behaviour, allowing residents to enjoy a safer route through the park at night and allowing the police to patrol the area more effectively. Along with improvements to the park, planned by Workington Town Council, the project aims to give this communal area back to the community.

Burglary

St Michael’s currently suffers from opportunistic burglary. The project aims to reduce this in several ways. The PCC Safer Streets team are trained in crime prevention and home security assessment and will visit homes in the ward upon request. The team are giving out 1,300 free home security packs containing various deterrents and security technology worth £100 per pack, free of charge. The packs include state of the art property marking kits provided by SelectaDNA, these kits are simple to use and register, the Safer Streets team will show residents how to do this.  The team will also encourage the residents to display the property marking window stickers which will discourage offenders from trying to steal belongings as marked property is more difficult for them to sell on.  If property is stolen, the marking will help to identify the owners so that the items can be returned, and also provide police with evidence to support prosecution of the offenders.  The Safer Streets team will provide advice to help residents make the best use of their security to feel safer and in control of their own homes. Lastly, 150 homes will be prioritised for target hardening with Secure by Design approved upgrades to lighting, gates, doors, locks, etc, all free of charge to residents and homeowners.

The Security Surveys have already begun and are being very well received by residents, please contact the team to arrange an appointment.  If you know of anyone in the area that would benefit, please spread the word.  The project only runs until the 31^st March 2022, so don’t miss out!

Telephone 0300 124 0112, extensions 44776 or 44492

Email: saferstreets@cumbria.police.uk

Visit the website at www.cumbria-ppc.gov.uk/what-we-do/funding/safer-streets-fund

Jackson Murtagh Safer Streets Assistant

E-scooter's - Area priority

Allerdale Police and Partners are seeing an increase in reports of illegal and anti-social use of off-road vehicles and e-scooters in public places and roads. 

E-scooters can fall under 2 categories:

• Trial e-scooter
• Privately owned e-scooter

There are NO trial E-Scooter's in Allerdale at present.

Information on Privately owned E-scooters:-

• These can be bought by any person and used on private land with the permission of the landowner. A privately owned e-scooter cannot be used on a road or public place unless it meets the requirements in primary legislation:

1) E-scooters need to be covered by a motor vehicle insurance policy.

2) E-scooter users need to have a valid driving licence.

• An estimated 300,000 e-scooters have been purchased privately and are already in use illegally in the UK-(Source NRPOII)

• E-scooters do not need to be registered, display registration plates or pay vehicle excise duty

Any e-scooter used on a road or public place which breaches either of the primary requirements may be seized by police under the terms of 165 RTA 1988.

If you wish to report any offences please do so via our Website and our online forms or email address 101@cumbria.police.uk.  You can also call us on 101.

In an emergency always call 999.