West Midlands Police
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West Midlands Police is the
territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federations, ...
responsible for policing the
metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...
of
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
,
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and also the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
. In 2020, there were 6,846 officers, 484 police community support officers (PCSO), and 219 volunteer special constables. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Dave Thompson. The force area is divided into ten
Local Policing Units Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...
(LPUs), each being served by four core policing teams – Response,
Neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...
, Investigation and Community Action & Priority (CAPT) – with the support of a number of specialist crime teams. These specialist teams include
CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...
,
traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
and a
firearms unit A firearms unit is an armed unit within each territorial police force in the United Kingdom. For the most part, the police forces of the United Kingdom are unarmed; however, all have firearms units to provide the police force with the capabilit ...
. West Midlands Police is a partner, alongside
Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...
, in the Central Motorway Police Group. The force is party to a number of other resource sharing agreements including the
National Police Air Service The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well as the three special police forces serving that area. It replaced the pr ...
.


History


Regional policing in the West Midlands prior to 1974

Prior to the formation of West Midlands Police as it is known today, the area now covered by the force was served by a total of six smaller constabularies. These constabularies were as follows: *
Birmingham City Police Birmingham City Police was the police service responsible for general policing in the city of Birmingham from 1839 to 1974. The force was established by a special Act of Parliament in 1839, and was amalgamated as of 1 April 1974 with the West M ...
1839–1974: Established in 1839 following an outbreak of Chartist rioting that the Metropolitan Police had to help quell, officers from Birmingham City Police first took to the streets on 20 November of that year. Initially with a strength of 260 officers paid at a rate of 17
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
s a week, the constabulary expanded to keep pace with the growth of the city with the final areas to be added before the force's amalgamation in West Midlands Police being the Hollywood area. *
Coventry Police Coventry City Police was a police force in the city of Coventry, then in Warwickshire, England, from 1836–1969. History The force was created under powers conferred to the City by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, and was overseen by t ...
1836–1974: Formed with the Municipal Corporations Act in 1836, Coventry Police was initially only twenty officers with the support of a single sergeant and one inspector. The force reached a strength of 137 officers by 1914 and continued to grow until in 1969 it was merged with the Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary, part of which it remained until the formation of West Midlands Police. *
Dudley Borough Police Dudley Borough Police was a police force in the Borough of Dudley, then an exclave of Worcestershire, in England, from 1920–1966. History From 1839 until 1920, Dudley was policed by the Dudley Division of the Worcestershire Constabulary. ...
1920–1966: Formerly part of the Worcestershire Constabulary,
Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
gained its own police force on 1 April 1920 following a review by His Majesty's Inspector that had suggested previous policing arrangements were unsatisfactory. Dudley Borough Police remained independent until the Royal Commission in 1960 which resulted in its inclusion as part of the newly formed West Midlands Constabulary. *
Walsall Borough Police Walsall Borough Police was a police force in the Borough of Walsall, then in Staffordshire, in England, from 1832–1966. History The force was created on 6 July 1832 with one superintendent and three constables. Following the Municipal C ...
1832–1966: Moving away from a 'watch' system, Walsall Borough Police were formed on 6 July 1832 with an initial strength of only one superintendent and three constables. As with the other regional forces, Walsall Borough Police expanded with the area's population and in 1852 appointed its first two detectives. The force took on its first female recruits in 1918 and in the 1960s became one of the first forces to issues its officers with personal radios. As with Dudley's police force, Walsall Borough Police became part of the West Midlands Constabulary following the Royal Commission. *
West Midlands Constabulary The West Midlands Constabulary was a police force in the West Midlands of England. It was created on 1 April 1966 under the Police Act 1964, with the re-organisation of the Black Country area as the five contiguous county boroughs of Dudley, W ...
1966–1974: Lasting only eight years, West Midlands Constabulary was a newly formed force encompassing a number of smaller borough forces including Dudley Borough Police, Walsall Borough Police, Wolverhampton Borough Police and parts of Staffordshire and Worcestershire Constabularies. The creation of the West Midlands Constabulary was the consequence of 1960's Royal Commission into policing. *
Wolverhampton Borough Police Wolverhampton Borough Police was a police service in the Borough of Wolverhampton from 1837–1966, when it was merged into the West Midlands Constabulary. The town's commissioners approved the formation of the police force on 3 August 1837. ...
1837–1966: The formation of Wolverhampton Borough Police was approved on 3 August 1837 under the condition that the strength of the force not exceed sixteen men. The Police Act 1839 saw Staffordshire County Police taking over policing in Wolverhampton with Wolverhampton Borough Police regaining responsibility for policing the town in 1848. At the turn of the 20th century the force was 109 strong, reaching a highpoint of around 300 before the force became part of the short lived West Midlands Constabulary in 1966.


Establishment of West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police was formed on 1 April 1974, owing to the provisions of the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
which created the new West Midlands metropolitan county. It was formed by merging the
Birmingham City Police Birmingham City Police was the police service responsible for general policing in the city of Birmingham from 1839 to 1974. The force was established by a special Act of Parliament in 1839, and was amalgamated as of 1 April 1974 with the West M ...
, the earlier
West Midlands Constabulary The West Midlands Constabulary was a police force in the West Midlands of England. It was created on 1 April 1966 under the Police Act 1964, with the re-organisation of the Black Country area as the five contiguous county boroughs of Dudley, W ...
, and parts of Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary,
Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with only 823 (full-time equivalents ...
and
West Mercia Constabulary West Mercia Police (), formerly the West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin) and Worcestershire in England. The force area cover ...
. The first Chief Constable appointed to the new force was Sir
Derrick Capper Sir William Derrick Capper (3 January 1912 – 21 March 1977) was an English police officer and the first Chief Constable of West Midlands Police. Early life and education Derrick Capper (as he preferred to continue being known after knighth ...
, the last Chief Constable of Birmingham Police.


Controversies and allegations of corruption

Between 1974 and 1989, the force operated the
West Midlands Serious Crime Squad The West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was a police unit in the English West Midlands which operated from 1974 to 1989. It was disbanded after an investigation into allegations of incompetence and abuse of power on the part of some of the squad ...
. It was disbanded after allegations of endemic misconduct, leading to a series of unsafe convictions. These included allegations that officers had falsified confessions in witness statements, denied suspects access to solicitors and used torture such as "plastic bagging" to partially suffocate suspects in order to extract confessions. They were alleged to have abused payments to informers. A series of around 40 prosecutions failed in the late 1980s as defendants showed that evidence had or may have been tampered with.
West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers. History West Yor ...
led an investigation which led to a small number of internal disciplinary proceedings, but did not recommend any prosecutions for lack of evidence. However, over 60 convictions secured from their investigations have now been quashed, including those of the
Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the C ...
. West Midlands Police had two serious firearms incidents, in 1980 and 1985. In 1980, David Pagett held his pregnant girlfriend as hostage while resisting arrest by the police. Officers returned fire, and shot her. Police had initially tried to claim that Pagett has shot her, but it became clear that it was police bullets that had caused her death. In 1985, John Shorthouse was arrested by West Midlands police for questioning about armed robberies in South Wales. His house was then searched. His five-year-old son, John, was shot by police searching under the child's bed. An internal inquiry was held, and as a result, use of firearms was restricted to a specialised and trained unit. Allegations of bribery and corruption were made in 1994 by ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its product ...
'', an investigative current affairs TV programme. The convicted criminal David Harris alleged that West Midlands police officers had demanded payments of more than £200,000 to keep criminals including himself away from prosecutions. Other allegations from police officers focused on officers attempting to persuade others to accept bribes. The CID was the focus of an investigation by
Leicestershire Police Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire. History Leicestershire Police was formed in 1839. In 1951 it amalgamated ...
at the request of the Police Complaints Authority.


2000s and onwards

Under proposals announced by the then
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
,
Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...
, on 6 February 2006, West Midlands Police would have merged with
Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...
,
West Mercia Constabulary West Mercia Police (), formerly the West Mercia Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire (including Telford and Wrekin) and Worcestershire in England. The force area cover ...
and
Warwickshire Constabulary Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with only 823 (full-time equivalents) ...
to form a single strategic force for the
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
region. This, along with a number of other mergers which would have cut the number of forces in England and Wales from 43 to 24, were abandoned in July 2006 after widespread opposition from police and the public. Because of
prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Dur ...
in October 2006, up to 44
prison cell A prison cell (also known as a jail cell) is a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held. Cells greatly vary by their furnishings, hygienic services, and cleanliness, both across countries and based on the level of punish ...
s at Steelhouse Lane police station in Birmingham were made available to house inmates as part of Operation Safeguard and in accordance with an agreement between West Midlands Police and
HM Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...
. In October 2008, the Chief Constable Sir
Paul Scott-Lee Sir Paul Joseph Scott-Lee QPM DL is a retired British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary and West Midlands Police. Early life and career Scott-Lee was born in Coventry, and educated at Whitley Abbey Comprehen ...
announced he would not be renewing his contract in May 2009, after seven years in the post. His replacement was Chris Sims. The force attracted controversy in 2010 when Project Champion, a £3million scheme to install a network of CCTV cameras in the predominantly Muslim areas of
Washwood Heath Washwood Heath is a ward in Birmingham, within the formal district of Hodge Hill, roughly two miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, England. Washwood Heath covers the areas of Birmingham that lie between Nechells, Bordesley Green, Stec ...
and
Sparkbrook Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council. Etymology The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...
, came under fire from local residents and
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
organisations. A total of 218 cameras had been planned for installation but the project was abandoned following concerns over their legality and objections from residents and local councillors that they had not been consulted by the force. Between April and September 2010, WMP budgets were cut by £3.4million as part of a programme to reduce spending by £50M over four years. In response to the 2010
Comprehensive Spending Review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that t ...
, Chief Constable Sims said WMP would need to reduce spending by up to £123million over the same period. In 2010 the force implemented regulation A19, requiring officers with 30 or more years service to retire, in response to government funding cuts. The regulation, used by 15 forces to make emergency savings, led to 591 WMP officers being forced to retire. Some of these officers later took WMP to an
employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...
, alleging
age discrimination Ageism, also spelled agism, is discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism. Butler def ...
. In 2014 the tribunal found the regulation to be unlawful. In 2015, 498 former WMP officers were seeking compensation. The ruling was later overturned by the
Employment Appeal Tribunal The Employment Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal in England and Wales and Scotland, and is a superior court of record. Its primary role is to hear appeals from Employment Tribunals in England, Scotland and Wales. It also hears appeals from decisions ...
, whose decision was upheld in the
Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
in 2017. Plans to
privatise Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
parts of the force were halted by Bob Jones, the force's first Police and Crime Commissioner, upon taking office in 2012. Chief Constable Chris Sims was reappointed to a second three-year term in 2013, then stepped down at the beginning of 2016. He was succeeded by Dave Thompson, who had previously been Deputy Chief Constable. In March 2021 Oliver Banfield, a
probationary Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
officer with West Midlands Police, was convicted of assault by beating after using techniques taught in police training to attack a woman while off-duty. Banfield was sentenced to a 14-week curfew and ordered to pay £500 compensation to his victim. Former
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
described the fact Banfield did not receive a
custodial sentence A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence, imposing a punishment consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison or in some other closed therapeutic or educational institution, such as a reformatory, (maximum security) psychia ...
as “proof ... that hesystem fails women and protects men”. After the conviction, the
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
apologised for initially declining to charge Banfield. In a May 2021 hearing, Banfield was found guilty of
gross misconduct ''Gross Misconduct'' is the second album from crossover thrash metal band, M.O.D. It was released in 1989 on Megaforce Records and Noise International and follows 1988's extended play '' Surfin' M.O.D.'' It was three years until the band releas ...
and banned from policing for life. A 2021 investigation by ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' and ''
The Law Society Gazette ''The Law Society Gazette'' (also known as the ''Gazette'' or the ''Law Gazette'') is a British weekly legal magazine for solicitors in England and Wales published by the Law Society of England and Wales. While it is available to buy and on su ...
'' found that alleged hate crimes in which the victim was a police officer were significantly more likely to result in a successful prosecution across a number of force areas including the West Midlands. The investigation found that in the year ending March 2020, crimes against police officers and staff constituted 7 percent of hate incidents recorded by West Midlands Police, but resulted in 43 percent of hate crimes convictions. In March 2022, a WMP constable resigned after having been found to have fabricated the death of a partner in order to receive bereavement leave and other benefits; Chief Constable Thompson said the officer would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had he not resigned.


Leadership and performance

, West Midlands Police was smaller than at any previous time in its history, having lost nearly 2,300 officers since 2010. Government funding for West Midlands Police fell by £145M since 2010. The chief constable, Dave Thompson, said in 2018 that falling numbers of police officers due to funding cuts, and a "wider spread of crime", prevented the police doing everything the public want or expect of them.


Leadership

The current chief constable is Dave Thompson, and the deputy chief constable is Vanessa Jardine.


Chief constables

* Sir
Derrick Capper Sir William Derrick Capper (3 January 1912 – 21 March 1977) was an English police officer and the first Chief Constable of West Midlands Police. Early life and education Derrick Capper (as he preferred to continue being known after knighth ...
(1974–1975) *
Philip Knights Philip Douglas Knights, Baron Knights, (3 October 1920 – 11 December 2014) was an English police officer who served as Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, succeeding West Midlands Police's first Chief Constable, Sir Derrick Capper. ...
(1975–1985) * Sir
Geoffrey Dear Geoffrey James Dear, Baron Dear, (born 20 September 1937) is a crossbench peer and retired British police officer who is a former Chief Constable of West Midlands Police. He was described by the broadcaster and writer Sir Robin Day as "the b ...
(1985–1990) * Sir
Ron Hadfield Sir Ronald Hadfield (15 July 1939 – 31 January 2013) was the Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police from June 1990 until July 1996. He had previously served with Lancashire Constabulary, Greater Manchester Police and Derbyshire Cons ...
(1990–1996) * Sir Edward Crewe (1996–2002) * Sir
Paul Scott-Lee Sir Paul Joseph Scott-Lee QPM DL is a retired British police officer who served as Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary and West Midlands Police. Early life and career Scott-Lee was born in Coventry, and educated at Whitley Abbey Comprehen ...
(2002–2009) * Chris Sims (1 June 2009 January 2016) * Sir Dave Thompson (January 2016 present)


Police and Crime Commissioner

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), established in 2012 as one of several directly-elected police and crime commissioners and replacing the
West Midlands Police Authority West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, is responsible for oversight and accountability for WMP and appoints the chief constable. As of 2021, the current PCC is Simon Foster.


Crime statistics and budget

The following table shows the percentage of cases resulting in a
criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can ...
or
court summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...
in West Midlands Police's jurisdiction, by offence group, for the period from April 2020 to March 2021: Dave Thompson stated that unforeseen pensions expenses of £8.6M in 2019 and £13.9M in 2020, from a budget of £514M cost roughly as much as 500 officers and would lower the total number of officers to 6,000, contrasted with 8,600 in 2010. Thompson added, “There is no question there will be more obvious rationing of services. The public can already see it is going on. We are already not pursuing crimes where we could find a suspect. We are doing things now that surprise me. We are struggling to deliver a service to the public. I think criminals are well aware now how stretched we are. These further cuts will leave us smaller than we have ever been. There is unquestionably more demand than there was in 1974.” In the 2021/22 financial year, West Midlands Police's budget was £655.6M, an increase from £619.7M in 2020/21.


Structure and departments

West Midlands Police covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
,
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and also the
Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...
. , the force has 6,846
police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
s, 219 special constables, and 467 police community support officers (PCSO), 165 police support volunteers (PSV), and 3,704 staff. In 2019, 10.9% of officers were from a
BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...
background, compared with 8.5% in 2014.


Local Policing Units

The area covered by West Midlands Police is divided into ten Local Policing Units (LPUs). Each LPU is headed by a chief superintendent, responsible for the overall policing and management of the area, supported by a Local Command Team (LCT) composed of a varying number of superintendents and chief inspectors. Each LPU has a number of dedicated Neighbourhood Policing teams. These cover a specific area and are headed by a sergeant with support from a number of police officers, PCSOs and sometimes special constables. The force operates a number of police stations.


Core policing teams

West Midlands Police is structured in such a way that there are four key teams in each LPU who have the responsibility for dealing with everyday policing duties. The force's current structure was gradually introduced over the past two years with the Solihull and Birmingham South LPUs being the first area to see the change in June 2011, and the Walsall LPU being the last in January 2013. The structural change was introduced as part of the force's 'Continuous Improvement' programme with the ambition of working in a more cost effective and efficient manner and was overseen under the advice of accounting firm
KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
. Prior to Continuous Improvement, the force had operated with larger response and neighbourhood teams and smaller teams allocated to prisoner handling roles. Community action and priority teams were a new addition to the force's structure under Continuous Improvement. The core policing teams are:


Community action and priority teams (CAPT)

The 'CAPT' support neighbourhood officers to address local issues and resource demands for service not met by other departments. They can be allocated to neighbourhoods suffering particular issues, for example anti-social behaviour, and are also often public order trained, so are used for policing football matches, demonstrations and similar occasions. As with the investigation teams, the community action and priority teams are supervised by a sergeant, who reports to an inspector. Key responsibilities of community action and priority teams are as follows: * Supporting neighbourhood teams – Providing specialist support to Neighbourhood Teams for example, conducting drugs warrants or addressing anti-social behaviour. * Addressing local issues – Supporting other front line policing teams and completing tasking as directed by LPU local command teams * Providing support for abstractions – Resourcing abstractions such as football matches, demonstrations and similar incidents so that Neighbourhood officers are able to focus on their beats.


Investigation teams

Officers on investigation teams have three main responsibilities, these being secondary investigation, prisoner handling and attending scheduled appointments with the public. These officers are also responsible for completing prosecution files and other paperwork necessary for taking cases to court. Investigation teams are split into a number of shifts, each supervised by a sergeant, and will have an inspector supervising the sergeants. Key responsibilities of investigation teams are as follows: * Secondary investigation – Following initial attendance of incidents by Response Team officers, investigations are allocated to investigation teams who conduct any follow up enquiries that are required. * Prisoner handling – Offenders arrested by response and neighbourhood officers are handed to investigation teams who will interview and retain ownership of the investigation up to the point of its conclusion. * Scheduled response – Operating on a diary system, investigation team officers attend pre-booked slots with members of the public who are wanting to report none urgent matters.


Neighbourhood teams

Aligned to specific neighbourhoods, these officers seek to tackle long term issues affecting local areas and attend community meetings. There are 171 neighbourhoods across the West Midlands, and officers assigned to neighbourhood teams are often supported by PCSOs and special constables. It is not uncommon for busier areas, such as town centres, to have several neighbourhood teams such as the St. Matthews beat covering Walsall town centre, which has two teams. Neighbourhood teams usually have a single sergeant who reports to a sector inspector.


Force response

Response officers work in shifts around the clock answering the most urgent calls for service received through the force's call centres. It is not unusual for response officers to work alone and each response shift usually has a number of officers who are authorised to carry
Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...
. In addition to Taser, some response officers also carry mobile fingerprint ID machines to confirm identities at the roadside. Response officers undergo enhanced driving training and also have a range of other skills required to perform their role including 'method of entry' training so that they can force entry into premises. Many response officers are also public order trained in order to respond to spontaneous disorder should it occur. Response teams are supervised by a number of sergeants and an inspector. Key responsibilities of response teams are as follows: * Primary investigation – Attending incidents in the first instance, Response officers gather available evidence and record offences. Follow up enquiries are then allocated to the investigation teams. * Missing person enquiries – Response officers conduct investigations into missing persons with a low or medium risk assessment. * Traffic – Officers from response teams attend reported road traffic accidents, sometimes supporting force traffic in the case of serious collisions.


Specialist crime teams

The core policing teams are supported by, and work closely with, a number of specialist crime teams. West Midlands Police had a
mounted Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...
division which was disbanded in 1999 to divert funds elsewhere. Current specialist crime teams include:


Air operations

Air operations in the force's area have been provided by the
National Police Air Service The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is a police aviation service that provides centralised air support to the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, as well as the three special police forces serving that area. It replaced the pr ...
since 2012. Previously, the Midlands Air Operations Unit was a consortium of West Midlands, Warwickshire, West Mercia and Staffordshire Police based at Birmingham Airport. It operated from July 1987, until it was replaced by the After experimenting, since the 1970s, with civilian helicopters hired on an occasional basis, West Midlands Police launched their own air unit on 10 May 1989. A WMP helicopter was destroyed by arson in June 2009, while at
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
.


Airport policing

The West Midlands Police force area includes
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
which is on the Solihull LPU. The airport has a dedicated airports policing team assigned who work closely with
Border Force Border Force (BF) is a law-enforcement command within the Home Office, responsible for frontline border control operations at air, sea and rail ports in the United Kingdom. The force was part of the now defunct UK Border Agency from its estab ...
customs and immigration officers. Officers working at the airport have additional powers under the
Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emer ...
as the airport is "designated" under the terms of the Act and some are armed.


Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG)

West Midlands Police is one of the two police forces who contribute officers to the Central Motorway Police Group, the other being
Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...
. CMPG operate out of three main bases, the main headquarters being under the
M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...
at
Perry Barr Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...
at which their central control room and vehicle depot is situated. CMPG also have a regional control centre in
Quinton, Birmingham Quinton, is a residential area and ward of Birmingham, England just under west of the city centre. Formerly part of Halesowen parish, Quinton became part of Birmingham in 1909. Quinton was a village and the surrounding area was farmland until ...
shared with
Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all fo ...
. Officers attached to CMPG cover a wide geographical area, including in the West Midlands the M6, M54 and A45.


Counter terrorism unit (CTU)

Based in Birmingham, the counter terrorism unit (CTU) is responsible for co-ordinating the force's
counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...
activity. CTU works under the guidance of the Government's national counter terrorism strategy,
CONTEST Contest may refer to: * Competition * Will contest * Contesting, amateur radio contesting (radiosport) Film and television * ''Contest'' (2013 film), an American film * Contest (1932 film), a German sports film * "The Contest", a 1992 season 4 e ...
, with the aims of pursuing terrorists, protecting the public, preparing for a possible attack and preventing terrorism by working in the community to address the causes of terrorist activity. As part of the CTU's role in working with the community, its structure includes a Prevent Team which is a group of officers who visit schools, community groups and partner agencies to raise awareness about the work on the unit. Exercises include Act NOW, a tabletop exercise explaining what happens during a counter terrorism operation and WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent), a presentation aimed at front-line public sector workers and organisations that work with potential victims of radicalisation.


Dog Section

Most dogs in the West Midlands Police Dog Section are products of an in-house breeding program which the force has been running at its
Balsall Common Balsall Common is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England. It is situated 4.75 miles (7.5 km) northwest of Kenilworth, west of Coventry, east of Solihull and to the southeast of Birmingham, to which it serves as ...
training centre since 1994. Specialist
search dog A search-and-rescue dog is one trained to find missing people after a natural or man-made disaster. The dogs detect human scent and have been known to find people under water, under snow, and under collapsed buildings. Applications A dog w ...
s including Springer Spaniels and Labradors are also used by the Dogs Unit to locate drugs or firearms and explosives. Dogs are continually recruited from rescue centres and from members of the public. All specialist dogs are handled by officers who already have a general purpose police dog, giving the handler responsibility in both training and operational deployment. Prior to 2013 there were 69 operational dog handlers working in West Midlands Police, dogs underwent an initial training program lasting twelve weeks. Officers with the Dog Section patrol in specially adapted Skoda patrol vehicles with air conditioned cages capable of carrying up to three dogs in the rear and operate from bases at
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...
,
Canley Canley is a suburban neighbourhood located in CV4, south-west Coventry, England. Canley became part of Coventry as a result of successive encroachment of the latter's boundaries between 1928 and 1932, having historically been part of the St ...
and
Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...
.


Events planning and football

The events planning department has responsibility for co-ordinating large-scale events taking place within the force area and also for ensuring that officers are available should they be required to support other regional forces through mutual aid arrangements. One major responsibility of the department is organising the policing operation for the Autumn political party conferences that are often held at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. Included within this department also is the Football Unit who coordinate policing of football games within the West Midlands and operate a team of "spotters" to identify violent supporters and banned individuals. The policing of large-scale events such as football matches, VIP visits and public demonstrations can be coordinated from the force's Events Control Suite (ECS) at the Tally Ho facility in Birmingham. The ECS is able to receive live CCTV footage and has computer facilities for the use of partner agencies with whom the suite is shared.


Firearms

West Midlands Police operate a number of
armed response vehicle An armed response vehicle (ARV) is a type of police car operated by police forces in the United Kingdom. ARVs are crewed by authorised firearms officers to respond to incidents believed to involve firearms or other high-risk situations. ARVs are ...
s (ARVs) that patrol the region and respond to incidents typically involving guns, knives or dangerous dogs. Officers undertake a ten-week selection process to join the firearms unit with courses being delivered on weapons, tactics and advanced driving. Alongside attending firearms incidents, officers attached to the firearms unit also provide tactical advice when planning operations and give lectures on firearms awareness to officers and members of the public. The force also has a Firearms Licensing Department which is responsible for the issue of shotgun and firearms certificates to members of the public and explosives certificates to companies requiring them.


Force CID

Detached from the LPUs, Force CID is staffed by officers holding a detective qualification and investigate serious and complicated crimes not taken on by Local CID or other departments. Such offences include murders, serious assaults, blackmail and arson. Force CID is arranged into a series of investigation teams including a dedicated Homicide Unit, working from bases at
Harborne Harborne is an area of south-west Birmingham, England. It is one of the most affluent areas of the Midlands, southwest from Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in ...
and
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...
. Working within Force CID are a series of Payback Teams who are responsible for arranging
asset seizure Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the government, authorities. In the United States, it is a type of Criminal justice financial obligations, criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the ...
s and confiscations under the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (c.29) (POCA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides for the confiscation or civil recovery of the proceeds from crime and contains the principal money laundering legislation in the U ...
. During 2011 offenders were forced to pay back £6.3M from proceeds of crime, a 39% increase on the previous year.


Force traffic

Based at Park Lane, Chelmsley Wood and Wednesbury, the force traffic unit has responsibility for roads policing on all roads inside the West Midlands other than the motorways which are covered by the Central Motorways Policing Group. Officers from the force traffic unit usually hold advanced driving grades and have access to marked and unmarked vehicles, including BMWs and Audis fitted with evidential video recording equipment. Force Traffic is supported by a Collision Investigation Unit based at
Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...
Police Station who investigate accidents involving fatalities or life-changing injuries.


Forensic scene investigators (FSI)

Officers are supported by a team of around 100 civilian forensics scene investigators who attend crime scenes and examine seized items to obtain forensic evidence for use in court. Formerly known as scenes of crime officers (SOCO), scene investigators have access to a wide range of specialist equipment to help with their role and alongside gathering forensic samples; they also are responsible for
crime scene photography Forensic photography may refer to the visual documentation of different aspects that can be found at a crime scene. It may include the documentation of the crime scene, or physical evidence that is either found at a crime scene or already proce ...
.


Intelligence unit

West Midlands Police has dedicated intelligence cells based on each LPU who collate and disseminate information collected by officers from a range of other sources. This role involves "sanitising" intelligence logs and forwarding them on to relevant persons, receiving information from outside sources such as
Crimestoppers Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency telephone number sy ...
, and assisting with the progression of investigations. The intelligence unit is responsible for organising briefing material for officers and police leadership; they also include a covert operations unit, who coordinate undercover policing operations under the terms of the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 ( c.23) (RIP or RIPA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, regulating the powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation, and covering the interception of comm ...
(RIPA). West Midlands Police is a partner alongside Warwickshire Police, West Mercia Police and
Staffordshire Police Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of eleven Local Policing Teams, whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authori ...
in the Regional Intelligence Unit collaborative working agreement under which information is shared between the forces on serious and organised criminals affecting the West Midlands Region.


Integrated emergency management (IEM)

The Operations Integrated Emergency Management service is responsible for ensuring that the force is ready to respond to major incidents, that business continuity plans are in place and that the force's duty under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 is satisfied. This work includes running exercises and drills to test readiness and working closely with other emergency services and local authorities. As part of the service's work, the force also maintains a number of Casualty Bureau facilities at which calls from the public are taken and collated following a major incident such as a plane crash or terrorist attack.


Local CID

Each LPU has a Local CID team of officers who hold a detective qualification and conduct secondary investigations into serious offences that occur within their area. Offences that fall under the remit of Local CID include burglary of dwellings, personal robbery, robberies, frauds and some vehicle crime.


Offender management unit (OMU)

All ten LPUs have an offender management unit (OMU) who work with partner agencies to concentrate on the offenders living on their areas identified as being particularly difficult or damaging. Offenders who fall into this category include those designated as prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs), drug users, violent criminals and young criminals. Officers from the OMU manage their assigned PPOs under two strands. One consists of rehabilitation and resettlement under which partner agencies are involved in an effort to halt re-offending whilst the other consists of catching and convicting offenders who have been identified as not participating in rehabilitation programmes or are wanted for outstanding crimes.


Operational support unit (OSU)

Working from Park Lane the operational support unit is a team of officers specially trained in areas including Public Order policing, method of entry and searching. Officers working with the OSU are typically deployed as part of a "serial" of one sergeant and seven officers and have access to specialist equipment and vehicles including armoured land rovers.


Public protection unit (PPU)

The public protection unit (PPU) investigates reports of sexual assaults and incidents involving children and vulnerable people. PPU is split between adult and child investigations, is responsible for safeguarding and works with partner agencies such as social services and domestic violence charities. As with CID, most officers working in the PPU hold a detective qualification.


Safer travel

The safer travel team is a collaboration between West Midlands Police, the British Transport Police and West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, CENTRO, focusing on criminal activity occurring on the public transport network. The team is composed of officers and PCSOs who patrol trains, buses and trams in the region. The Partnership, the first of its type in the country, also has access to around 1,000 CCTV cameras which are located at bus, rail and metro stations, park and ride sites and in bus shelters. The dedicated control centre is staffed 24 hours a day to spot and respond to incidents.


Professional standards department (PSD)

Based at Lloyd House, the professional standards department (PSD) is responsible for the recording and assessment of public complaints about police officers, police staff or special constables. PSD also has a role in investigating serious reports of police misconduct, misconduct and police corruption in the United Kingdom, corruption involving members of the force. Members of the public are eligible to make a complaint if the behaviour about which they want to complain was directed towards them, if they were "adversely affected" by said behaviour or if they were an eyewitness to said behaviour. A person is "adversely affected" if they suffer any form of loss or damage, distress or inconvenience, if they are put in danger or are otherwise unduly put at risk of being adversely affected. PSD work alongside the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), to whom they will refer the most serious allegations. Where appropriate, PSD have a range of outcomes following disciplinary panels, including no action, counselling (management advice), written warning, transfer to another post, withholding increments and dismissal. West Midlands Police recorded 501 complaints for 2018/19, a 36 percent drop in comparison to 2017/18 during which 777 complaints were recorded.


Press Office

Also known as Corporate Communications, the West Midlands Police Press Office is centralised at headquarters and is charged with representing the force's public image. Each LPU has dedicated Territorial Communications officers and in addition to addressing media enquiries, the Press Office also looks after the force's website and publishes the force's internal online newspaper, ''News Beat''.


Social media

West Midlands Police maintains a presence on social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and blogging platforms. Several of the force's social media accounts have won recognition as examples of best practice, including Solihull Police's Twitter feed which came first place in the 2012 Golden Twits' Customer Service category and Inspector Brown's Mark Hanson Digital Media Award 2012 for his mental health blog.


Special constabulary

Officers belonging to the special constabulary have the same powers as full-time officers and are unpaid volunteers, giving a minimum of sixteen hours a month of duty time. Initial training for special constables lasts 22 weeks, and when deployed they wear the same street uniform as other officers. They can be identified as Specials by their collar numbers, which start with 7 and the 'SC' on their epaulettes. Special constables provide West Midlands Police with around 96,000 hours of voluntary duty each year and usually work alongside regular officers on neighbourhood teams, response teams and also Community Action & Priority Teams.


PEEL inspection

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) conducts a periodic police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspection of each police service's performance. In its latest PEEL inspection, West Midlands Police was rated as follows:


Recruitment and training

Applicants to join West Midlands Police as police officers are subject to a staged recruitment process designed to assess their suitability for the role, including background checks, medical and fitness tests. On being accepted to join the force, new recruits undergo an initial training course last eighteen weeks which is non-residential and based mainly in the classroom but with periodic practical exercises and attachments. Performance is assessed by a series of examinations and training includes self-defence lessons and tuition on police computer systems. Following successful completion of initial training, recruits are then tutored on their LPUs for nine weeks before being signed off for independent patrol. They retain their status as student officers for a period of two years from their joining date during which they are required to maintain a record of their development. Upon reaching two years service, student officers are "confirmed" in their rank by a senior officer, usually their LPU commander. The recruitment process for PCSOs is similar to that of police officers although training periods are reduced. In November 2018 it emerged that the police force had blocked white male officers from promotion, setting aside half of all promotion slots for women and ethnic minority candidates in seven out of eight of the year's promotion rounds. In the year's final round the force continued to discriminate, by blocking white male applicants for two days. A complaint by the Police Federation union noted that the practice was illegal and condemned it as "not fit for purpose". As a result West Midlands Police "paused" the practice. On 11 June 2020, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson committed to ensuring that the force recruits 1,000 new Black, Asian and minority ethnic police officers over the following three years to make the force look more like the communities it serves.


Presentation

Police officers working for West Midlands Police wear a wide range of different uniforms, equipment and vehicles dependent on their specific role.


Uniform

Officers' standard street uniform consists of black lightweight zip-up shirts, black trousers and a high visibility protective vest. White shirts were replaced by the black T-shirts in 2010 at a cost of £100,000 but are retained for court and station duties. Officers are issued with fleeces, weatherproof pullovers, fluorescent jackets, high visibility tabards, waterproof over trousers and slash resistant gloves.


Ranks and epaulettes

Shoulder insignia for ranks above police constable are as follows: File:Epaulette - Sergeant Rank.jpg, Sergeant File:Epaulette - Inspector Rank.jpg, Inspector File:Epaulette - Chief Inspector or Detective Chief Inspector Rank.jpg, Chief Inspector File:Epaulette - Superintendent Rank.jpg, Superintendent File:Epaulette - Chief Superintendent Rank.jpg, Chief Superintendent File:Epaulette - Assistant Chief Constable Rank.jpg, Assistant Chief Constable File:Epaulette - Deputy Chief Constable Rank.jpg, Deputy Chief Constable File:Epaulette - Chief Constable Rank.jpg, Chief Constable When dressed for public order policing, officers wear coloured epaulettes indicating their respective roles. Gold–silver–bronze command structure, Bronze commanders wear yellow epaulettes, inspectors wear red epaulettes, sergeants wear white epaulettes, tactical advisors wear blue epaulettes, medics wear green epaulettes and evidence gathering officers have orange epaulettes.


Equipment

As part of standard issue Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), officers carry Sepura Terrestrial Trunked Radio, TETRA radios, rigid handcuffs, CS_gas#CS_spray, CS spray and an extendible friction lock baton. Officers also have access to first aid kits, limb restraints and torches. Traffic units, particularly officers performing collision investigation duties, use laser plotting devices to accurately survey collision sights and carry devices that can be used to measure road friction and deceleration values.


Facilities

As of 2021, there are 11 police stations in the West Midlands Police force area, including Lloyd House in Birmingham, the force headquarters. There are also two custody suites in Birmingham. The NPAS helicopter operates from a base at
Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...
in Solihull. Large scale policing demonstrations such as protest marches and football matches are coordinated from the Events Control Suite (ECS) in Birmingham. Public Order courses are hosted at the regional training centre which consists of a converted aircraft hangar on the RAF Cosford site near Telford. The site has facilities allowing officers to experience riot situations including dealing with 'Emotionally Disturbed Person' scenarios during which they are subject to attacks by role playing actors wielding weapons. West Midlands Police operate a Custody Visiting Scheme under which independent representatives from local communities are able to access detention facilities to observe, comment and report upon the welfare and treatment of detained persons. Visits are conducted at random by volunteers working in pairs who then write a report on the feedback gathered during their visit. In 2017 a joint inspection of the force's custody suites was conducted by HMIC and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons.https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/06/West-Midlands-police-Web-2017-1.pdf


West Midlands Police Federation

The West Midlands Police Federation is a part of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which is the representative body for every police officer below the rank of superintendent. Representatives of the Federation are elected for three year terms and must be serving police officers. Police officers are restricted by their regulations from strike action, striking and from taking part in politics, hence the Federation represents their interests and negotiates on their behalf in relation to pay, conditions and pensions. The Federation is funded by a monthly subscription paid from officers' salaries and provides representation and advice to officers who are subject to disciplinary processes.


West Midlands Police Benevolent Fund

The West Midlands Police Benevolent Fund was set up in 1974 following the amalgamation of local forces to form West Midlands Police. The fund is financed by subscriptions from members and donations and monies are distributed on application to the committee to members suffering financial hardship.


Officers killed in the line of duty

The Police Roll of Honour Trust and Police Memorial Trust list and commemorate all British police officers killed in the line of duty. Since its establishment in 1984, the Police Memorial Trust has erected 50 memorials nationally to some of those officers. The following officers of West Midlands Police are listed by the trust as having died attempting to prevent, stop or solve a crime: * * * * * * *


Notable incidents and investigations

* * * * July 1996: Wolverhampton machete attack. * * * One member of the public died as a result of stab wounds and a police officer was shot and wounded. * * * * * April - July 2013: Pavlo Lapshyn, Attempted Mosque bombings and murder of Mohammed Saleem. * May 2018 - March 2020: Birmingham bathing cult. * 17 June 2020 - 4 December 2021: Murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes. * 28 July and 8 August 2022: Policing the 2022 Commonwealth Games, XXII Commonwealth Games.


See also

*Law enforcement in the United Kingdom *List of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom *Table of police forces in the United Kingdom *West Midlands Fire Service *West Midlands Ambulance Service


References


Further reading

* M. Talbot, ''A Peeler in the Family'', 2011. * M. Talbot, ''Birmingham City Police (1939–1945)'', 2012. * J. Klein, ''Invisible Men: The Daily Lives of Police Constable in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool'', Liverpool University Press, 2010. * J. Reilly, ''Policing Birmingham: An Account of 150 Years of Police in Birmingham'', West Midlands Police, 1989. * P. Browning, ''The Good Guys Wear Blue: One Mans Struggle Policing the Tough Streets of Coventry'', Reality Press Ltd, 2007.


External links

*
West Midlands Police
at HMICFRS {{Authority control West Midlands Police, Organisations based in the West Midlands (county), Police Police forces of England 1974 establishments in England Organizations established in 1974