West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke has called for a new approach to tackling violent crime and youth offending after figures showed murder rates were on the rise.

Rich was speaking after new data from the Office for National Statistics showed 51 homicides were committed in the West Midlands Force area between April 2021 and March 2022. This was compared to 40 in the previous 12 months, a rise of 27.5 per cent.

The homicide rate in the West Midlands over the three-year period to the year ending March 2022 was 15.8 per million population. The figure was higher than the average for England and Wales, which was 10.8 per million population.

Rich said: “It seems like every day we’re talking about violence and violent deaths and every day we’re making the same calls to prevent needless deaths so surely it is now time for a different approach.

“I have always been a strong advocate of neighbourhood policing and I think we should be looking at ways of bringing that model up to date.

“If police officers are given adequate time and space they can be much more proactive, build relationships and get to know a community and geographic area intimately well.

“This then feeds engagement and intelligence which will help address prevalence of drug abuse linked to acquisitive crime, gangs and knife crime.”

As part of their ongoing #lifeorknife campaign, West Midlands Police have been working closely with local schools, doctors and paramedics to actively encourage children to talk about knife crime with parents, teachers and peers.

The campaign, which is now in its fifth year, highlights the common signs that indicate when adults might feel it is time to discuss knife crime with young people in their lives.

It also provides information on where people can report or talk to someone about knives and where people can anonymously dispose of them.

Nationally, homicide returned to pre-pandemic levels in the year to March 2022, according to the ONS figures.

There were 696 victims in the last year, 130 more – or a 23 per cent increase – than the year ending March 2021 when Government restrictions meant there was less social contact.

The ONS data also showed:

• The homicide rate over the three-year period to the year ending March 2022 was 39.7 per million population for the black ethnic group, approximately four times higher than for the white ethnic group (8.9 per million population)
• 282 homicides, approximately 4 in 10, were committed using a knife or sharp instrument, a 19 per cent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest annual total since the Home Office’s homicide index began in 1946
• There were 69 homicide victims aged 13 to 19 years. Of these, 51 were killed by a knife or sharp instrument
• There were 134 domestic homicides in the year ending March 2022, 18 more than the previous year, and a similar number to the average over the last decade of 129
• Males accounted for 72 per cent of homicide victims in the latest year, but 93 per cent of convicted suspects.

Rich said: “We need officers to be able to use their stop and search powers to prevent violent crimes and to get weapons off our streets.

“We need the courts to hand down sentences that act as a deterrent. And we need other services – such as the health service and education – to work together because intervention and prevention must be at the heart of our response.

“It’s not just a policing issue. We all have a duty because one life lost to violence is one too many.”