A representative from the Home Office got an insight this week in Penrith into the measures which have been put in place to keep people safe in Cumbria’s night-time economy.
It was during Operation Regulate taking place in Penrith which aims protect the county’s streets as part of the Government’s national Action in Winter initiative.
The project aims to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, crime in the night-time economy, retail crime including abuse towards shop employees, dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour (ASB).
David Allen, Cumbria’s police, fire and crime commissioner, who leads the initiative, visited Whitehaven and Penrith to hear more about the positive action of police, Cumberland Council, Westmorland & Furness Council and third sector organisations working together.
Speaking in Penrith he said there were a number of things in operation and added: “We’ve been out Whitehaven this morning, seeing the focus hubs there, so the joint police, joint local authority, and housing authorities work that they do together.”
He said it involved problem solving and tackling issues that were occurring locally. He said: “It is really good to see a proper joined up problem solving approach. And I also went to Hope Haven, the new mental health facility that’s in the town.
“It is a brand new, set up, a bit of a way to go yet. but actually showing real promise. They were telling me they’ve had over 70 people through the doors, looking for and seeking help which wasn’t available before. And that certainly helped the police in some of the crisis issues that they’ve had locally.”
He said that in Penrith he was also looking at how the local authority and the police worked together but in a very different way. He added: “So this is around licensing. And I’m currently in one of the pubs in Penrith, where we’re looking at how the police work with licensees.
“It is to make sure that they understand the legislation, the challenge 25 stuff, fake IDs, what technology is available to help them, and we’ve seen some interesting technology today, which I didn’t know existed, that can actually verify a person’s age.”
When he was in Penrith he also visited the Welfare Hub which is used during the night to provide help and advice to those who are in need or are vulnerable.
Mr Allen said: “We’ve just been at the Royal in Penrith, talking to them about PubWatch around Penrith and Eden. And they’re the ones that host it once a month. Most of the licensees in Penrith are part of the PubWatch scheme, which basically means if you misbehave, you’d be banned out of every pub and every licensed premises in the town, and nobody wants that.
“The licensees don’t want that either, in fairness. So, we’ve just been talking through how they do it and how they administer it.
“They’ve got an app, so everybody who’s banned they’ve got the photographs and the names and descriptions. So, you know, if you’re banned from Dockray Hall, you’d be banned in the Royal. It’s as simple as that. And as I say, nobody wants that. You want to be able to go out, have a nice night. No mess and no silliness.”
He said it actually made people behave because of the preventative side and he added: “Because if you don’t, you’re banned for three months or longer.
“And if you don’t comply with the conditions of that you’ll keep getting banned as well. So, to me, PubWatches are a really, really good, low-key, preventative piece of work that the pub and the licensees do with the licensing authorities and the police.
“It allows them to effectively look after people and police themselves, so you get a better environment in the licensed premises. People behave.”
He said the Welfare Hub was useful when there were lots of people out drinking and some people could be the worse for wear and they could get advice on how they can stop their drinks from being spiked. He added: “All that information is in there. I think it’s a great setup and it keeps people safe.”
Anthony Hughes, the manager of The Old Victoria in Penrith, said the hub was essential because it helped to keep people safe and it helped to make sure people were not spiked. He said: “When you’re spiked, you become vulnerable.”
He said he worked with PubWatch and with the police and the local authority. He said: “They deliver training with us so that we know what to look out for, how we can help people that are in this kind of situation. And we learn how to signpost them and so on.”
Mr Hughes said the app was useful because they could report things, such as antisocial behaviour, violence and abuse to staff, internally.
He added: “That allows us as a community to understand what’s going on in the town. Maybe to manage our premises in a certain way, to prevent that from spilling into our premises.
“And then there’s obviously the punitive resolution at the end of that, where we take to a vote and decide whether we are going to exclude that person collectively from all of the premises.”
If you wish to report to police you can do so online at Report a crime | Cumbria Police. You can also phone on 101. Always phone 999 in an emergency or if a crime is in progress. Alternatively, you could be entitled to up to £1000 for giving information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.
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