West Midlands Local Policing Update
18 Apr 2023 by Mazeline Hemmings
West Midlands Police have changed the way they work, with more officers now dedicated to working locally in our communities across the West Midlands.
A new local policing model will better serve communities across seven policing areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Each local policing area (LPA) will be led by a Chief Superintendent commander, who will understand the issues that matter to communities in their area and have greater control over how they use their resources to meet local needs better.
Response and investigation teams will now be based at the same local police hubs as neighbourhood officers, meaning they can work more closely together, to prevent and solve crime and keep people safe. Officers spending more time understanding and preventing local problems as well as addressing the issues that really matter to communities.
What will be different?
- Increased neighbourhood presence to really understand local issues and work with communities to tackle these
- Response officers (those who respond initially to your calls) are now more local to provide a better service
- Local investigation teams with a renewed focus on areas such as burglary, robbery, vehicle crime and domestic abuse to deliver better outcomes
- Increased use and availability of local custody facilities to support our focus on arresting more offenders
West Midlands Police want this new way of delivering local policing to make local areas safer, by making more arrests for violent crime, especially for domestic abuse. The Force will also be able to work more effectively with partners, local businesses, and other agencies to reduce crime and disorder and make the streets safer.
For more information on the new model, please visit the website.