Last updated at 15:28, Friday, 22 January 2010

Cumbria Constabulary rates second nationally when measured on how it inspires confidence in the public it serves.

There’s good reason for that. Police here are solving more reported crimes than forces in most other parts of the country and their attack on the creeping cancer of organised crime is showing impressive results.

Cumbria police seized drugs with a street value of £20m and made nearly 175 arrests in the battle against illegal trafficking, dealing and organised crime last year.

Officers also confiscated £1m in alleged illegal cash, as they worked to demolish the empires of drugs lords and laundering directors at the heart and head of the county’s criminal underworld.

Chief constable Craig Mackey is justifiably proud of his force’s record. Furthermore he is determined to make life for organised crime operations, with an eye on Cumbria as base or trading centre, yet more uncomfortable.

This county is fortunate in that it has less of a problem with large-scale organised crime than many other counties with densely populated metropolitan cities within their boundaries.

But that makes no case for complacency. Neither should it serve as invitation to criminals under misguided impression that, in a county regarded by comparison as something of a sleepy hollow, their illegal activities will pass unnoticed, undetected and unpunished.

With support and help from Cumbrian communities, as unwilling to host serious crime as they are to tolerate increasing incidences of burglaries, robberies and sex offences, police aim to build on detection success and public confidence.

Cumbrians make no apologies for inhabiting a sparsely populated county with relatively low crime. That’s the way we like it.

The message to organised criminals seeking to profit from our fortunate circumstance is clear. In co-operation with a police force commanding our trust and confidence, that’s the way we’ll keep it.

First published at 14:10, Friday, 22 January 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk