CAMBRIDGESHIRE police has been praised for the way it tackles serious crime in the first national Police Report Card. However, the report, published last week, highlighted solving crimes as an area where the force needs to improve its performance. The ass

CAMBRIDGESHIRE police has been praised for the way it tackles serious crime in the first national Police Report Card.

However, the report, published last week, highlighted solving crimes as an area where the force needs to improve its performance.

The assessment, part of a national survey of police forces carried out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), praised police in Cambridgeshire for tackling serious sexual and organised crime, becoming a national leader in tackling human trafficking, dealing with anti-social behaviour, improving satisfaction in ethnic minority communities and suppressing gun crime.

Awarding the force a "fair" mark overall, HMI for Cambridgeshire Zo� Billingham said Cambridgeshire police's performance in reducing crime was in line with similar forces but there remained "considerable scope for improvement in solving the crimes that matter to local people, including house burglary and vehicle crime."

Deputy chief constable John Feavyour said Cambridgeshire police had already acted to resolve the problem areas highlighted in the report, which used data up to September 2009.

He said the constabulary was being more proactive in its approach to solving crime and dealing with anti-social behaviour, and working with other agencies to identify repeat victims.

"The issue is that four or five years ago, we were responding - now we are ahead of what's going on. Our systems and methods are much more dynamic now," said Mr Feavyour.

"We are as disappointed as the other nine other forces given the same grading. It refers to burglary, vehicle crime, robbery and violence against people, areas where we were aware we were not doing well in some communities.

"We have changed our approach and are beginning to get much better results.

"The chief constable has led a relentless programme of focusing on today's jobs today, and following everything up, and we are starting to see the benefits.