West Mids top cop is hopeful Labour Government will signal more police officers
West Midlands top cop would rather his force have "feet on the beat" in the Black Country instead of "square feet" of office space.
However, Chief Constable Craig Guildford vowed not to order any more closures of police stations or front desks in the Black Country on his watch.
He said: "I think people want to see more police officers and do not care about police estates. Where we can we operate from a two bedroom flat we will do, there is no need for a five bed mansion when it comes to the police.
"But, saying that I do not want to close any stations down, but we need to look at everything operationally."
The Chief Constable is hoping the recent Labour landslide General Election will give the cash-strapped force more resources.
He told the Express & Star: "There is a positivity towards what we can achieve. We are looking forward to the new government in terms of pledges around additional officers and numbers. West Midlands Police has 800 fewer officers than it had in 2010. Whilst some of our neighbouring forces have got more officers than they've ever had history.
"So there is a an opportunity coming up for our political leaders to make a difference, but as it is, we can only hope the new officers promised will be joining us first. We want officers from our local jobs market who are as diverse as the area is."
Under the current model the Chief Constable is in charge of operational matters whereas Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster lays out the force's priorities. And CC Guildford is happy with that arrangement.
He said: "My job is big enough as it is, I am not looking for extra responsibilities I just want to do the job to be best of my abilities. The politicians have their job to do and I have mine to do.
"The West Midlands has the most police calls per thousand people in the country, it is a big urban area, with three big cities and a lot o crime. But we have got our emergency call wait times down and have prioritised the most dangerous crime."
In December, inspectors (HMICFRS) placed West Midlands Police into ‘engage’ status, effectively meaning it was in Special Measures, regarding four causes of concern.
At the time it was concerned about how effectively the force was investigating crime, keeping vulnerable people safe and managing the risk posed by sex offenders and online child abuse offenders.
On Tuesday the independent inspectors have written to the force to say it has seen ‘sustained improvements’ in three of the four areas. It says it is no longer concerned about the force’s ability to keep vulnerable people safe or its management of the risk posed by sex offenders or online child abuse offenders.
