Funding for extra bobbies on the beat in Walsall being considered
Walsall Council bosses could provide funding for more bobbies on the beat as part of an initiative which has been run in London.
The authority said it is looking into the viability of adopting "Police Patrol Plus" in Walsall as a way of increasing the number of officers on town streets.
Councillor Garry Perry, portfolio holder for community, leisure and culture, said it would involve the council paying for more police officers to be deployed across the borough and “challenge” the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson to match the funding.
Mr Jamieson said they would look to see exactly how much money Walsall Council puts forward but warned the authority would need to guarantee it would run for at least a decade to avoid redundancies.
At a Walsall Council cabinet meeting, Councillor Perry said: “The Police Patrol Plus model will be looked at and I’m hoping we will be able to do this.
“This will see the council commit resources to funding police officers and the challenge then is for the police and crime commissioner to double that.
“It might not work for Walsall or it might even be something that needs to be a Black Country wide model. But, regardless, this is something we are looking at and an integrated model has to be the right thing to do.”
Mr Jamieson said: “We look at any serious offers to improve the funding of West Midlands Police.
“I look forward to seeing how much money they are actually proposing putting into this endeavour.
“For this to be a serious offer, Walsall Council would have to be guaranteeing their side for at least 10 years, as police officers cannot be made redundant.
“Of course, any police officers are under the operational control of local commanders and respond to police priorities.”
