West Midlands Police has been heavily criticised by inspectors for not effectively managing the risk to the public posed by sex offenders, not managing the risk of online child abusers and not properly keeping victims of domestic abuse safe. According to a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, the force has failed to carry out effective investigations leading to satisfactory results for victims and work effectively to keep vulnerable people safe.
Following the report, the government has announced closer monitoring of the force and demanded regular meetings with inspectors. West Midlands Police’s monitoring level has been elevated to “Engage”, a higher level of monitoring, because the force is “not effectively addressing the inspectorate’s concerns.” The force must now urgently produce an improvement plan as significant improvements are required.
West Midlands Police covers a vast area of 348 square miles and has a population of 2.94 million people making it the largest force outside London. The inspectorate’s verdict is a clear sign that the current model may not be working, fuelling debate about who should be responsible for policing in the region. There are calls to hand police and crime commissioner’s powers to the winner of the next Mayoral election.
The force’s chief constable, Mr Craig Guildford, disagreed with the watchdog’s decision. He stated that many of the issues identified had resulted from the previous operating model. Nevertheless, he had already put robust plans in place to rectify these issues. The force’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Mr Simon Foster, is treating the report seriously, and action has been taken and continues to be taken to improve the force
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