CUMBRIA’S chief constable says his force will have to increasingly prioritise its resources towards serious crimes in the face of falling officer numbers. 

Jerry Graham said resources would be “maximised” towards offences such as rape and child sexual exploitation so police could protect the public. He added offences such as vandalism would still be investigated but the force would prioritise crimes that involved people being harmed. 

Police forces across the country have come under financial pressure in the wake of budget cuts and officer numbers are to fall in Cumbria. 

Mr Graham was speaking at a meeting of senior crimefighting figures, including police chiefs and Richard Rhodes, the county’s crime commissioner. 

“As resources reduce we need to maximise where we are putting our efforts to protect the public,” said Mr Graham. He added the force would “like to do everything” but could face choices between rape, sexual attacks and crimes against children “versus criminal damage”. 

“It’s neither one thing or the other,” added Mr Graham. “We’ve got to do both but we’ve got to prioritise where the harm is,” added Mr Graham. 

Cumbria’s police chiefs have had to provide a service while dealing with budget cuts for a number of years now, leading to a drop in officer numbers. The number of police in the county is set to fall by 155 in the next four years to 977. The force has cut its budget of more than £100m by £16m since 2009. 

Figures for the last financial year, released in May, showed crime had gone up by four per cent and violent crime was up 25 per cent. The latest figures, issued at the meeting and covering the 12 months up until July, show the trend continuing, with the force registering an 11 per cent rise. 

Violence was still up, accounting for more than 50 per cent of the overall rise. Criminal damage was up seven per cent. The overall increase last year was put down to some extent to more people having the confidence to report offences such as domestic abuse. The rise was also partly attributed to improved recording of offences.