Cleator CrackThe monthly news supplement for Cleator Moor
and district, from The Whitehaven News
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Number 124
Warm welcome
for Shelagh: p3
Blue Skies group
needs you: p3
Marking start of
war: centre pages
`Cleator Moor is a
safe place to live'
CLEATOR Moor has one of
the highest rates of crime in
West Cumbria, a report has
revealed.
But a police sergeant for
the town's neighbourhood
policing team says Cleator
Moor is still a very safe place
to live and, overall, crime is
low.
The figures were collated
by the Crime and Disorder
Reduction Partnership
(CDRP), an organisation
made up of the police, fire
services, health authority
and community groups.
The partnership is looking
at issues such as violent
crime, domestic abuse, crim-
inal damage.
It monitors all the areas of
Copeland and specifically
looks at what issues are most
common in each area.
Out of all the areas dis-
cussed, Cleator Moor and
South Whitehaven were
named the two top places for
crime.
Between May 2006 and
May 2009 in Cleator Moor,
there were around 200 re-
ported incidents of crime
compared to 140 in Keswick
in the same period of time.
On average there are
around seven to 10 incidents
in Cleator Moor a month,
which increased up to 26 in-
cidents in November 2008.
The information shows
that a high number of do-
mestic abuse incidents are
being reported throughout
West Cumbria.
However, Sergeant Diane
Johnson, of the Cleator Moor
Neighbourhood Policing
Team (NPT), believes that
crime has dropped over the
last six months compared to
the same period in 2008.
She said: "The numbers of
incidents overall are very
low and Cleator Moor is still
a very safe place to live.
"The strong sense of com-
munity in the area allows
residents to work closely
with police to solve and pre-
vent crime.
"We investigate every in-
cident thoroughly and the
dedicated NPT works hard to
deter crime and tackle issues
when they arise."
She said that overall crime
in Cleator Moor has de-
creased over the last 12
months, with only a slight
increase in reported inci-
dents of violent crime in Au-
gust.
This is due to historical
assaults being added to the
August figures.
She added that the vast
majority of offences of vi-
olent crime involved persons
known to one another and
arrests have been made in
nearly all instances.
In the majority of reported
incidents alcohol was a ma-
jor factor.
"Reducing violence and
the fear of violence will al-
ways be a priority for us.
CCTV coverage has im-
proved in the area and is
used to help identify offend-
ers and anyone committing
acts of violence will be dealt
with robustly and referred to
the local Pubwatch scheme
for consideration of being ex-
cluded from all licensed
premises in their area.
"This is in addition to any
court sentence or penalty no-
tices given," said Sgt John-
son.
"We have increased local
police patrols in the area
over the summer period to
deal with incidents of vio-
lence, criminal damage, dis-
order, drunkenness and anti-
social behaviour.
"We have ran successful
operations in the last few
months dealing with bur-
glary and thefts from the lo-
cal amenity site where six
arrests were made."
The police have allocated
one extra community police
officer and one extra com-
munity support officer in
Cleator Moor over the past
three months.
They are looking into set-
ting up a new Neighbour-
hood Watch scheme, which
is an excellent tool to assist
in the prevention and detec-
tion of crime, they say.
Police are encouraging
anyone who would like to set
up their own scheme to con-
tact police on 0845 33 00 247 or
visit the Cumbria Police
website on www.cumbria.po-
lice.uk
BY SARAH ROBINSON
Plenty of new faces at St Patrick's
MEET THE NEW STARTERS: St Patrick's School reception class of Mrs McGrath
AND THERE'S MORE: Miss Challinor's reception class at St Patrick's School
Pictures: John Story

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