Violence and sexual offences around central Kendal fell from a record 140 in July to 66 in August, below the usual level. July now looks like a one-month spike.
Police recorded 66 violence and sexual offences within a mile of central Kendal in August 2026. That is less than half July’s figure of 140, which was the highest month in the three years of street-level data police.uk holds for the town.
August was also below the usual level. It was lower than August 2025 (70) and August 2024 (74).
The figures come from Cumbria Constabulary’s August release on police.uk. We reported July’s jump on 27 September and said August would show whether it was a spike or the start of a trend. On this evidence it was a spike.
August against the rest of the year
| Within a mile of central Kendal | August 2025 | July 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 70 | 140 | 66 |
| All other crime and antisocial behaviour | 92 | 84 | 97 |
| Total | 162 | 224 | 163 |
In the eleven months from September 2025 to August 2026, leaving July out, violence and sexual offences averaged 75 a month. August’s 66 sits just under that.
The rest of the picture moved the other way, though only a little:
- Shoplifting: 14, double July’s 7 and up on 10 in August 2025
- Antisocial behaviour: 13, up from 9 in July
- Public order offences: 16, against 17 in July
- Criminal damage and arson: 16, the same as July
- Burglary: 5, against 3 in July
- Vehicle crime: 6, against 5 in July
These are small numbers. A change of four or five in one category is normal from one month to the next.
The neighbours fell too
We ran the same one-mile count for other towns in the force area.
| Violence and sexual offences, one mile of the centre | July 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Kendal | 140 | 66 |
| Penrith | 68 | 51 |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 169 | 151 |
| Windermere | 14 | 17 |
Penrith and Barrow both fell in August as well. But neither had a July spike to come down from. Kendal’s July figure was out of line with the other towns, and its August figure is back in line.
August’s reports were also less concentrated. They were spread across 49 map points, against 71 in July. No single point had more than five. The busiest was a car park point police.uk labels “Parking Area”, with five.
What happened to July’s cases
Police.uk updates the outcome of each crime as cases move on. A week ago, 88 of July’s 140 violence and sexual offences were listed as “under investigation”. Now:
- Under investigation: 54
- Unable to prosecute suspect: 65
- Investigation complete, no suspect identified: 10
- Awaiting court outcome: 7
- Local resolution: 2
- Offender given a caution: 1
- Further investigation not in the public interest: 1
“Unable to prosecute suspect” is the most common outcome for this category in Kendal, not a sign of anything unusual about July. In July 2025, it was the recorded outcome for 50 of the month’s 78 offences. It usually means a suspect was identified but the case could not go further, often because the victim did not support a prosecution or the evidence was not enough.
What the data still cannot tell you
Why July was so high. Police.uk records offences, not incidents, and one incident can produce several records. It does not say whether a small number of incidents lay behind July’s figure. Cumbria Constabulary has not published a statement about it that we could find. Its news pages could not be read by our tools today.
Anything about Windermere or Ambleside from the Kendal figure. The count is a one-mile circle around the town centre. Windermere has its own figure, above.
What it means for you
- Kendal’s violence figure is back to normal. August was below the town’s usual level and below the same month in the last two years.
- Shoplifting is worth watching. It doubled on July, though from 7 to 14. September’s figures, due in November, will show whether that holds.
- Check your own street on the police.uk crime map, which shows the same data by neighbourhood.
- If you are affected by violence or abuse, call 999 in an emergency or 101 otherwise.
For other Kendal information, see our pages on parking in Kendal, council tax bands and bin collection days.
How we counted: all figures are from the police.uk street-level crime API, using its one-mile radius around 54.328, -2.745, the centre of Kendal, for each month from September 2023 to August 2026, pulled on 6 October 2026. The same method, with each town’s own centre, was used for Penrith, Barrow and Windermere. Police.uk revises earlier months slightly as records are updated, so a figure here can differ by one or two from an earlier report. Data is published under the Open Government Licence.
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