More about this area
The force says...
Lancashire Constabulary serves a diverse range of communities, urban to rural and wealthy to high deprivation. A resident population of 1.53 million is supplemented by 21 million visitors and 70,000 students. Our 5,000 miles of road network encompass the M6. Major events include Blackpool Illuminations, Lytham Festival, and in 2021, the G7 Speakers’ Conference.
The Constabulary’s victim-focused strategic vision – preventing and fighting crime, keeping our people and communities safe – is underpinned by core values of professionalism, accountability, unity and respect.
Our culturally diverse communities span 14 local authority areas, 4 of which fall into the top 20 most deprived in England. Every area has a neighbourhood policing allocation, and our community engagement portal has 96,000 users. Our commitment to local policing has been enhanced by the introduction of a Prevention and Problem-Solving Command. A dedicated taskforce prevents and targets crime in rural communities, which cover 74% of the county.
We receive approximately 900,000 calls annually, 220,000 of which are emergencies. These translate into 575,000 incidents and 131,993 crimes. Contact via digital channels is increasing, reaching 110k instances in 2021. Frontline demand has changed significantly, not least due to the pandemic, with a considerable reduction in neighbourhood and acquisitive crime, alongside increases in serious and complex offending. The Constabulary is improving its capacity and capability to effectively tackle these crimes and is undergoing a comprehensive review of its operating model to ensure value for money for our communities. This includes exploration of digital solutions to increase efficiency.
The Constabulary collaborates extensively with academic, local authority and third sector partners to drive innovative and holistic approaches to address vulnerability and reduce demand. Our Violence Reduction Network is leading a multi-agency commitment to trauma-informed approaches, cultivating collective, cross-sector learning to support the ongoing development of services to reduce and prevent serious violence.
Disclaimer: the above statement has been prepared by Lancashire Constabulary. The views and information in it are not necessarily those of HMICFRS.