A word from the local inspector

The differing issues experienced by communities can sometimes be linked to the season - and issues with sheep worrying can particularly affect the farming community at this time of year.

This month's newsletter includes the usual advice on this. As always, we would ask people to take care around livestock and ensure dogs are kept on leads and under control.

Elsewhere we detail some of the other work underway by our neighbourhood policing team, including work to tackle anti-social behaviour, which we know has a big impact on people.

A lot of people in this area work, shop, socialise or have relatives in Penrith.

We have some work underway due to an increase in anti-social behaviour, particularly in the use of vehicles and also involving young people in and around Penrith town centre. 

Those committing driving offences will be dealt with robustly and vehicles may be seized.

We will also be implementing a number of dispersal orders if the problems persist and there is not a positive reaction to our initial approach.

If a young person is subject to a dispersal order or someone has a vehicle seized, then we need to ask ourselves why - and what can we as parents do to prevent this?

We are more than happy to engage and direct young people to areas of assistance and aid.

However, we won’t tolerate anti-social behaviour affecting our community in the Penrith and Eden area.

As always, we rely on your support and information. The usual ways to report to us are at the bottom of the newsletter.

Inspector Steve Minnikin

Our team has been dealing with speeding and anti-social driving

Problems with speeding and anti-social driving in Penrith were addressed in a joint operation involving our neighbourhood police team and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service.

Officers moved to act on community concerns as one of the main issues raised by the public in the town is worries people have over driving.

The team covering Penrith had been contacted by the fire service, offering road awareness training to educate drivers on the dangers of the road.

This training, held at Penrith Fire Station, covers the risks in factors such as speeding, tiredness, drink and drug driving and not wearing seat belts.

Ten people attended the fire station for the training on the night of the operation.

The fire service training also included personal stories of incidents firefighters had attended.

Sergeant Jack Stabler said: “This is a good example of both the partnership work we do with other agencies for the good of the community and the work the neighbourhood policing team does all-year-round – responding to community concerns.

“We have had a number of reports of anti-social driving and we decided to launch this operation to tackle the issue.

“Education is a key way to tackle this type of behaviour as sometimes people just do not realise the impact of their actions or the possible consequences. Education also prevents future problems.

“We’d like to thank Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service for joining us and playing a crucial part in these efforts to keep Penrith’s roads as safe as possible.”

Among those who took part in the training were a group of young drivers who had not committed any offences.

Officers spoke to them while on patrol to see if they would like to gain some extra awareness of the dangers while they were out - and they all said they wanted to attend.

Sgt Stabler added: “They were all positive about the training and it provided a good opportunity to get across our messages.”

Other work we have been doing to tackle anti-social behaviour

What's the issue? 

You said there were issues with anti-social behaviour in the area around Sainsbury's.

Local PCSOs conducted a streetsafe survey - where they listened to people's concerns - and have been liaising with mangers and staff at the store.

We completed questionnaires with the residents to establish further details. This information was then collated.

We discovered that the issues you would like to resolve included anti-social behaviour; this includes both young people causing issues both on foot and in vehicles. Speeding and noise nuisance.

What are we doing about it?

We are working with Sainsburys to resolve these issues; this includes targeted and highly visible patrols in the area.

We have issued several section 59 warnings - which gives us power to seize a vehicle if used in a manner which could cause alarm, distress or annoyance - and issued a dispersal notice, which directs a person or people to leave the area for up to 48 hours. These posters have been put up in the anti-social behaviour hotspot areas. We will continue to engage and enforce where needed with offenders.

We will be continuing to monitor any anti-social behaviour issues and we are speaking to those residents involved.

Taking care around livestock - particularly at this time of year

Farm workers in our area have just started to lamb their sheep or are preparing to start shortly.

At this time the ewes in the fields are even more vulnerable to sheep worrying - so please make sure that dogs are kept on leads and under control at all times.

A defendant appeared at court this month following an incident of sheep worrying at Knipe last year.

He pleaded guilty and was fined £300 in addition to court costs.

He also compensated the farmer for the value of the sheep, which unfortunately died as a result of the dog attack.  

Please ensure dogs are kept on leads and under control around livestock

Funding awarded to Cumbria Constabulary and University of Leeds for vital rural domestic abuse research

Cumbria Constabulary, in partnership with the University of Leeds, have been awarded Police Science and Technology funding to research The Geospatial and Contextual Patterns of Rural Domestic Abuse.

With over 10 million people in England and Wales living in rural settings, this collaborative research project has far-reaching potential to positively impact those affected by domestic abuse.

Read the full story here.