Chair promises 'the very best' from members whether mayor or PCC oversee Force

9 February 2024

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke says members will continue to do their very best for the public regardless of who has oversight of the Force.

The Government has laid legislation in Parliament to transfer the functions of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to the Mayor of the West Midlands.

It means that, if approved by Parliament, the Mayor of the West Midlands would hold the Force to account. Any change would not take place until after the next mayoral elections in May.

Rich reiterated the Federation’s position that it did not favour oversight from either a PCC or a metro mayor, but would prefer a return to a system that was more representative of the overall electorate in the West Midlands.

Branch chair Rich Cooke.

He said: “We feel that having a single person often of a particular political party in charge of policing is potentially divisive.

“As we have seen in London, it tends to exacerbate the polarisation of policing in the eyes of the public.

“And while the individuals concerned are often good, well-intentioned people, the model hasn’t engaged the public, which you can clearly see from the low numbers of people who participate in the elections.

“We’d prefer a different governance model for policing, one that’s based on democratically elected people who are representative of the whole of the West Midlands, which is basically what we had under the Police Authority model.

“But we know that’s not on the table at the minute so we’ll work with whoever takes over, whether it’s a PCC or a mayor.

“And our members will continue to do their very best for the people and communities of the West Midlands.”