Last updated at 10:09, Tuesday, 05 February 2013

Road safety, rural crime and reassuring the community are this year’s three priorities for Brampton police.

The Brampton neighbourhood policing team covers an area including Longtown, Dalston and Alston.

The priorities have been highlighted following feedback exercises with the communities in which the officers work.

Inspector Dan St Quintin, who is in charge of the team, said: “It is really important that we have a plan for how we make further improvements to the quality of service we deliver with our communities.”

He added that these priorities were also among the issues raised by Richard Rhodes, Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner.

On the roads, Inspector St Quintin said officers would be focusing on reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries. The area covered by police at Brampton has the county’s highest number of collisions. Police also aim to tackle speeding by treating it as an anti-social behaviour offence.

Concerning rural crime, police want to step up their intelligence-gathering, and try to prevent crimes involving wildlife, licensing and anti-social behaviour.

They have also identified ‘reassurance’ as a priority.

“This is just as important as the other two areas,” said Inspector St Quintin.

“We must reassure our communities that we are here and we need to tell them what we are doing.

“Communication is key. We could be doing a brilliant job, but if we don’t tell people about it, in the age of information, we haven’t achieved anything.”

Officers will also get involved with community events, visiting schools and promoting a ‘Farmwatch’ programme, similar to Neighbourhood Watch, for farmers.

Insp St Quintin added that the team’s counterparts in the Eden valley were adopting the same plan.

He encouraged as many people as possible to take part in online meetings with officers. Details of these, along with times for rural police surgeries, can be found via www.cumbria.police.uk.

First published at 10:07, Tuesday, 05 February 2013
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk