cumbria constabulary

Praise for Cumbria Constabulary’s Budget Measures

Rory  met with Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary, Craig Mackey, on Friday December 17th at the constabulary’s Carleton headquarters in Penrith to discuss the forthcoming reductions to the county force’s budget. Rory was very impressed by the professionalism with which Craig Mackey and the Cumbrian police have approached the budget reduction. The police budget is being frozen over the next four years, and because of inflation this will mean a real terms reduction of three or four percent a year. This would be challenging for any organisation. However, it is absolutely necessary, given the state of the public finances, and Rory is delighted with the responsible and creative solutions that the Cumbria Constabulary have developed in this challenging time.

In particular, they have come up with some very creative ideas on how to use new technology so that policeman would no longer need to return to a police station in order to write an electronic report. They have protected both community police officers and firearms police officers in their entirety. There will be no redundancies of police (though there will be reductions in support staff). And they have managed to ensure that  these reductions will not affect the level of service which Cumbrians receive. It is very impressive that they have used these reductions to improve efficiency and introduce new policing methods without affecting service delivery. It is a real sign of their commitment and professionalism.