Crime hits ten-year-high in West Midlands

The rise comes at a time police numbers are at their lowest, while £175 million has been cut from the force’s budget, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson said.

A total of 259,542 crimes were recorded across the eight West Midlands policing areas in 2019, up from a low point of 174,214 in 2012.

Numbers of rapes more than tripled through the decade from 865 across the West Midlands in 2010 to 3,051 last year.

Murders across the West Midlands were at their highest in 2018 at 50, which dropped to 39 last year while the average across the decade was 38.3 per year.

Birmingham West was the policing area with the highest number of all categories of crimes since 2010 at 529,771, followed by Birmingham East with 372,078 and Coventry at 248,073.

Sandwell had 227,735, Walsall had 194,394, Wolverhampton had 182,630, Dudley had 183,743 and Solihull had 137,595.

The figures were released following a Freedom of Information request by WhatDoTheyKnow site user Alexandra Martin, and also included other crimes such as arson, burglary and manslaughter.

The force released the data with the proviso that “comparing numbers of incidents/crimes can be misleading and does not necessarily indicate the likelihood of someone being a victim of crime”.

The force added that crimes recorded “can be influenced by a number of factors” and “may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area”.

Damage

PCC David Jamieson said: “Policing is rightly currently being dominated by our response to coronavirus and supporting the ‘stay at home, saves lives’ initiative.

“These figures show that crime has risen cross the country and here in the West Midlands over the last decade. They highlight the damage of 10 years of cuts and under-funding of the police service.

“Government cuts have meant West Midlands Police has lost more than 2,200 police officers since 2010 and seen its budget shrink by £175 million.

“Even with the Prime Minister’s announcement of additional police officers, our force is only due to receive 1,200 officers back over the next three years – far short of what we’ve lost.

“We continue to drive efficiencies, for which we have been commended by the independent inspectorate. We are cutting down on bureaucracy and giving officers the technology to do their job on the move, so they don’t have to come back to a police building unnecessarily.

“These efficiencies are helping officers spend more time in communities, where the public want them. In the last year since these figures were compiled, many crime types have fallen, but I still remain very concerned about the level of violent crime in particular.

“It should also be noted that whilst good quality policing is crucial to reducing crime, other services have a big role to play to.

“We need to see an increase in youth services and mental health if the government are serious about tackling the root causes of crime too.

“Youth services in many areas have almost disappeared. Intervening to support young people is one of the most effective ways of reducing crime.”

By Local Democracy Reporter Mark Cardwell