‘Thank you’ from Chief Constable

2 August 2024

The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has thanked officers, staff, and volunteers for their hard work after His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) closed three areas of previous concern.

Craig Guildford said HMICFRS had confirmed the Force has made significant improvements in performance by closing those areas of concern and becoming the most improved metropolitan force in England and Wales.

He said: “I thank every officer, staff member and volunteer for making this happen.”

The Force has successfully resolved issues around:

• More effective multi-agency risk assessment conferences

• Managing risks posed by registered sex offenders

• Managing risks posed by online child abuse offenders.

It comes less than six months after the Force was moved into ‘Engage status’ by HMICFRS following an inspection that identified four areas of concern.

The only outstanding issue now is investigations, which will be the subject of some re-inspection activity in September, and further updates are being issued to set out where the Force is doing well and where it needs to focus.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford.

HMICFRS has also advised that it was very impressed with the improvements the Force has made against four long-standing causes of concern in relation to custody. All four have been removed from enhanced monitoring, a significant development which has resulted from a lot of hard work, the Chief Constable said.

Mr Guildford said: “I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to achieve this success in the quickest time possible. These improvements are a testament to the hard work of our officers and staff, plus some excellent leadership across the Force.

“We are continuing to work hard to address the final cause of concern flagged by HMICFRS around our investigations.

Inspectors

“It is really pleasing to know that inspectors have recognised the progress already made to resolve this and we look forward to this area being formally reviewed in September.

“I am thrilled to reveal that, alongside making these improvements, HMICFRS has also been impressed by the improvements the Force has made to its custody processes. Four long-standing areas of concern in this area have also been successfully concluded.

“These changes have been made while West Midlands Police has achieved the largest reductions in crime across England and Wales, with there being 35,000 fewer victims or 10.3 per cent less crime compared to the national reduction of 4.2 per cent. West Midlands Police now has less total crime than Greater Manchester Police.”

West Midlands Police reductions in crime and violence include:

• Burglary fell by 7.3 per cent (4.1 per cent nationally)

• Vehicle crime reduced by 12.1 per cent (7 per cent nationally)

• Theft from the person saw a 21.5 per cent reduction and the biggest volume reduction nationally with almost 1,000 fewer victims (nationally increased by 10.8 per cent)

•  Violence against the person fell by 12.9 per cent with more than 19,000 fewer victims (nationally 5.2 per cent)

• Arrests have doubled.

Mr Guildford said that many issues in the initial assessment of the Force last year developed as a result of the previous operating model and did not reflect the current outcome rate of 12 per cent, ‘which equates to 6,600 detections of crime’.

He said a rapid overhaul of the operating model had seen the Force’s arrest rate double as has the number of offenders brought to justice.

“As a result of these rapid changes, we are now the best-performing force of our most similar group when it comes to solving burglary, robbery, and homicide,” he said.

“The number of rapes we solve has nearly doubled, such that we have now surpassed the national average.

“We have gone from being one of the worst call-handling forces to one of the best in less than a year.

Targets

“We currently answer 70,000 999 calls each month in an average of four seconds, down dramatically.

“Our 101 performance now averages 90 seconds which has also seen dramatic improvements from 29 mins. On average we now attend emergency incidents in 11 mins and priority incidents in 39 mins – against a 15-minute and 60-minute target.

“We are answering more calls from the public, responding quicker to those calls for help and investigating more crime. We look forward to delivering against the Government’s plans for crime set out last week, especially their commitment to fund more police officers.”

Mr Guildford said that officers should not lose sight of what the improvements in performance means.

He said: “More offenders are being brought to justice and the service we provide local communities is faster, more reliable, and better.”

He added: “I know we have an outstanding workforce and therefore it is rewarding to see your efforts being recognised in this way and West Midlands Police being identified by some as the most improved metropolitan force. This should make you feel proud to be a part of our force.”

READ MORE: Police officers continue to be exploited, says Fed chair.