Cumbria Constabulary

Cumbria Constabulary is the territorial police force in England covering Cumbria. It is currently the fifth-largest force in England and Wales in terms of geographic area (2,268 square miles or 5,870 square kilometres) but one of the smallest in terms of officer numbers. Given the force area's size and population of just under 500,000, it is relatively sparsely populated. The only major urban areas are Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness. These conditions set specific challenges for the force.

There are significant areas of isolated and rural community, and the county has one of the lowest visible minority ethnic populations in the country at under 3.0%. Each year Cumbria, which incorporates the Lake District National Park, attracts over 23 million visitors from all over the world (46 times the local population). The county has 67 miles (108 km) of motorway and some 700 miles (1,100 km) of trunk and primary roads.

The force has over 1,400 police officers, 120 special constables and 800 police staff. The Chief Constable is Stuart Hyde. The headquarters of the force are at Carleton Hall, Penrith.

Under proposals made by the Home Secretary on 6 February 2006, it would have been merged with Lancashire Constabulary. These proposals were accepted by both forces on 25 February and the merger would have taken place on 1 April 2007. However, in July 2006, both Cumbria and Lancashire forces decided not to proceed with the merger because the Government could not remedy issues with the differing council tax precepts that left both forces unable to proceed.