New report states overall crime rates in Cumberland have fallen

Overall crime rates in the Cumberland Council area have fallen over the past three years, according to a new report.

Members of the unitary authority’s place overview and scrutiny committee are due to meet at The Copeland Centre in Whitehaven to receive the annual report from the Cumberland Community Safety Partnership.

The report outlines all crime, excluding antisocial behaviour, over the three years.

Between January and December 2023 there were 21,538 recorded crimes, according to the report.

This fell between January and December 2024 to 21,316 recorded crimes and it fell further between January and December 2025 to 20,684 recorded crimes.

The report states that during 2025, the 20,684 recorded crimes represented a rate of 73.7 offences per 1,000 population. It adds: “This is a decrease of 3 per cent (-632 offences) compared to 2024, and a decrease of 4 per cent (-854 offences) compared to 2023.”

In relation to the priority area of domestic abuse related incidents in Cumbria, these totalled 8,212 in 2024/25 and three fifths of these are known to be in the Cumberland unitary authority area, according to the report.

However, the report adds: “Domestic abuse related incidents have increased across all areas in 2024/25 compared to the previous two years.”

According to the report there 4,854 domestic abuse related incidents in the Cumberland Council area, an increase of 5.1 per cent (+236 incidents), compared to 2023/24 and +14.3 per cent (+609 incidents) compared to 2022/23.

In relation to the priority area of violence against women and girls (VAWG) the report states there was a total of 4,691 offences in the council area in this financial year to date compared to 5,042 offences in the similar period last year.

It adds: “This is a decrease of seven per cent on the previous year, and a 10.9 per cent decrease on the previous three-year average.

“Cumbria Police’s VAWG recording of offences is in line with the definition set by the national centre for violence against women and girls and public protection (NCVPP). This states that the victims must be female, and of any age (previous figures were based on the victim being aged 10 or over).”

In relation to the priority area of antisocial behaviour, the report states that such incidents have been decreasing steadily over the last three years in north and west Cumbria.

It adds: “There were 1,669 recorded antisocial behaviour incidents in 2025, a rate of six incidents per 1,000 population. This is a decrease of 25 per cent compared to 2024 and a decrease of 37 per cent compared to 2023.”

In relation to the priority area of hate crime there were 430 recorded incidents, a 2.1 per cent increase compared to the similar period last year (421).