30-06-2025
'People don't want to leave their house': New crackdown on summertime anti-social behaviour
A charity says some people are too scared to step outside because of fears over anti-social behaviour.
Cumbria Police are partnering with community groups to launch a Safe Streets Summer project, which hopes to combat the issue by keeping young people engaged with activities throughout the summer holidays and by ramping up enforcement.
Harley Day, a Remedi Community Engagement Officer, said: "Some people don't even want to leave their house. It can be very scary, especially when they live on their own and they're older; it has a massive effect.
"It could just be that youths are just knocking on their door, but we don't know what they've been through in the past. You know, people have quite traumatic stress."
Police say there's been a decline in the number of anti-social behaviour incidents in Cumbria, with 985 fewer reports in the year leading up to March.
David Allen, Cumbria's Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, said: "For me, coming back into Cumbria and the policing sphere, it broke my heart to see that we withdrew from the public that we serve.
"We're now turning that dial back, providing visible policing and neighbourhood police officers who know the patch."
Cumbria Youth Alliance says there is a lack of facilities for young people across the county - but it's not the whole picture.
Chief Operating Officer Sophie Birkett, from Cumbria Youth Alliance, said: "There were around 586 different youth services around Cumberland, not all youth groups, but something offering something for young people, for them to do. So I don't think it's a lack of provision. I think it's a lack of awareness."
This summer initiative follows the launch of Operation Enhance in July 2024, in which the force pledged to carry out extra patrols in 18 hotspot areas, including Carlisle, Workington, Maryport, Cleator Moor, Whitehaven, Penrith and Kendal.
Lauren Woodward, from Cumbria's Fire and Rescue team, said: "It's quite rare in Cumbria, but one is too many, so we just ask people to be mindful and share messages with their children about the impact it can have on us if you hurt one of our firefighters, they're not able to do their job."
