Cumbria's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner David Allen sets out his plan to fight crime

Cumbria's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) David Allen will launch his first regional plan in March 2025 - setting out his next three years in office.

Mr Allen says preventing anti-social behaviour, anti-social driving, rural crime and violence against women and girls are all on his agenda for 2025.

Mr Allen will serve Cumbria until the next election in 2028 after taking up the role of PFCC in May 2024.

He says his aim to tackle violence against women and girls will become a "generational piece of work".

He said: "It's going to take a long time. But in the short term, it's about targeting the perpetrators, providing education in schools as well as in various other settings.

"We need to make sure boys in particular understand what it means in relation to how you deal and interact with girls and consent."

The PFCC says Cumbria Police arrested 65 drunk drivers and 84 drug drivers this time last year. Mr Allen believes these "shocking" statistics are unacceptable.

He said: "We're going to keep looking at targeting individuals who we know are drunk or drug driving. The intelligence we get from members of the public is used and we do target those individuals.

"There is no place in this society for drinking or drug driving. These individuals are putting themselves and others at risk - which could quite easily kill people."

David Allen also says Cumbria Police currently have a number of operations working towards key individuals who are involved in rural crime.

He said: "We are targeting organised criminals who we know are involved. We have lots of operations that put patrols out in those rural areas of Cumbria, we are targeting the farms which we know are going to be hit.

"We are working with farmers to better protect their properties," he added.

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