Dear Simon,
Now that the 8 June, and the numerous events taking place on it in and around Cumbria have been and gone, I thought I would take the opportunity to write to you and respond to your article in the Daily Mail (Daily Mail dated 14 May 2024 and the letter to the Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary that generated it - Dave Myers: MP shares concerns over Dave Day plans | The Mail (nwemail.co.uk) ).
Whilst it is good to work with other elected officials in the county, and their views on matters normally outside of their purview, such as policing, are always looked on with interest, I did think that your comments, which were passed on to the Daily Mail, were not particularly helpful and did rather show a lack of understanding as to how the police and other agencies work together, prepare and plan for major incidents. I would also have expected that a response from the Chief Constable, other individuals and agencies involved would have been awaited before you went to the media expressing your concern. Alternatively you could have contacted me or my office and I would have been happy to assist in assuring you that the force and other agencies had planning and preparation well in hand.
Cumbria Constabulary may be small in size, but it is an extremely professional force, containing some incredibly astute and capable officers. Planning for days such as June 8, with all of its complexity is what they do, and do extremely well, as the weekend of the 8 June demonstrated.
On June 8 the Constabulary, working very closely with others, planned for (just the largest events listed, there were many others that took place) - Daves Day; Appleby Horse Fair; The Great North Swim; The Cumberland Show; industrial action; various D-Day events; and a protest by environmental campaigners at the proposed coal mine in West Cumbria.
Did these events stretch the Constabulary and other services involved?, Absolutely! However, all events were subject to significant planning and preparation, some for in excess of 12 months. Most were carried out with partner statutory agencies and 3rdsector voluntary organisations and the level of planning that went into all of the events was incredible. The police, fire and other services are well versed in these events and were able, through proper planning, cooperation and experience, to effectively deal with the day, and deal with them extremely well, pretty much without serious incident.
I am incredibly proud of our protective services in Cumbria, of all of the agencies, statutory and voluntary, that rallied around on June 8. It was an incredible day, with 24,000+ bikers in Barrow, hundreds of swimmers in Windermere; and thousands of locals, visitors and members of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community in Appleby (where I was that morning with the Chief Constable). I do, however, wonder if the environmental protest, staged on the same day, was as a result of your article and designed as a result, by the environmental protesters, to test Cumbria and its responses on a day that we were stretched, but I guess we will never know.
Obviously, the two services I have oversight over, Police & Fire, are my concern but they and the other partners involved in every event on June 8 can and should be justifiably proud of their work, actions and activity. This was an incredible day of activity and done well. I am having seen it first hand on the day, incredibly proud of the work done by all involved in every event on June 8. It is what makes Cumbria a fantastic place to work, live and thrive (and be incredibly safe to do so).
I would commend you to have some faith in the professionals and volunteers that protect you in Cumbria; having worked all over the world and being able to compare first hand how good our local services are and having seen them in action on the 8 June, in spite of unprecedented demand, I do!
Yours faithfully,
David Allen
Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner