THIS week the Evening Mail has been given exclusive access to police departments and the work they do to keep us safe behind the scenes. On day five Chief Reporter Suzanne Murphy speaks to the man in charge of the team dealing with the area’s major crimes.

Temporary Detective Inspector Jason McKenna is responsible for a dedicated unit which tackles crimes ranging from serious theft, controlled drug supply, serious sexual assault and murder.

Despite honing his investigative skills in The Met in the early part of his career, he is a south Cumbrian at heart who was born in Ulverston in 1971. 

The ex-forces man joined the Metropolitan Police Authority in 1995 before returning to Cumbria in 2001.

He said: “I was born at the maternity hospital at Oubas Hill and my family have recently retired from owning a local taxi business and still live in the area so it is important to me to serve my local community by working for Cumbria police. 

“In the Criminal Investigation Department our role is to investigate serious criminal offences with the assistance of specially trained staff members such as Crime Scene Investigators and intelligence staff. We are supported by uniform officers who sometimes people forget are also trained investigators who themselves deal with criminal offences both within their daily duties and within the Custody Investigation Team who are a dedicated team who investigate persons arrested for volume crime such as theft, criminal damage and assault. 

“The major areas we investigate in CID are serious violent crime, sexual offences, serious theft such as burglary in a residential premise and financial fraud. We also deal with people trafficking, child sexual exploitation, manslaughter, murder and the supply of class A drugs. The offences in relation to drug supply are obviously the main job of drug squad who concentrate their efforts on the supply and production of Class A drugs. 

“One of the main issue we have in the south Cumbria area  is acquisitive crime carried out by drug users. They target vulnerable people with burglary and thefts. 

"A recent example of this is the recent investigation of a series of house burglaries which occurred in the Dalton  area where a suspect targeted residential premises whilst the occupiers were sleeping. A team of detectives were allocated to the crime series who conducted a thorough investigation in to the offences which led to a suspect being identified and arrested. The investigation relied upon members of the public assisting police which is essential and, with the help of forensic recoveries made by CSI, the suspect was successfully prosecuted and is currently serving a three-and-half-year prison sentence. 

"Obviously we are associated with bringing people to justice, however we also work in partnership with other agencies and third sector organisations such as the Community Safety Partnership to prevent crime. We also work closely with Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Company and Unity who deliver drug and alcohol intervention in a co-ordinated effort to divert person away from the cycle of offending. 

“An area of crime which is increasing is that of child sexual exploitation as it is not about thinking geographically, it's thinking about it worldwide with the internet. 

"It’s one of our priorities to make sure children are kept safe however the policing of this serious criminality is challenging due to the wide access to the internet. 

"The policing of the internet is not just a police responsibility it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure our children do not become victims of child sexual exploitation, parents, brothers, sisters, friends and so on.  

“I really believe that Cumbria Constabulary provides the best service it can with the available resources. In contrast in my experience larger forces like the Met tend to be more specialised in investigating specific types of crime, Cumbria officers are more experienced in dealing with a broad range of crime which enables them to deliver a high level of service consistently in crimes they investigate. 

“We have a very low crime rate compared to other areas of the UK but crime figures are going up and this is reflected nationally and obviously if funding cuts go ahead and there is a reduction in staff it will reduce the amount of officers we have to investigate crime which will inevitably lead to impacting negatively on the level of service we can provide.”