Chief Constable says drops in crime show hard work by West Midlands Police paying off

West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford has been reflecting on new national statistics released today, which show safety in the West Midlands has continued to improve, with crime reducing, arrests increasing and victims receiving better and faster police support.

The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) cover the period July 2023 to June 2024, and show significant reductions in crimes which cause the most harm to communities.

Key areas that have seen reductions include Robbery, Burglary, Vehicle Crime, Theft from the Person, and Violent Crime including Domestic Abuse.

Total crime reported across the West Midlands has been reduced by 10 per cent (323,197 offences in total) compared to the same period last year.

The Chief Constable said he was very pleased with the statistics and spoke of the work that had gone on in the background to ensure the force achieved the results it had for reducing crime, with knife crime a particular focus.

He said: "To put this into perspective, there are now 35,000 fewer victims of crime, which is a very substantial reduction of 10 per cent and it's reduced in some very key areas of focus that we've having, particularly around burglary dwelling, vehicle crime, robbery, serious violence and also some elements of knife crime.

"The statistics go up to June and we are currently in October and I can say to the public that the trajectory is continuing in the right direction and the headline figure for me is the volume of crime.

"We very often compare ourselves to Greater Manchester Police and we're about 10 to 20,000 crimes lower than they are, which is one of the first times that we've achieved that and that's very important for us in looking at our peers.

"On behalf of the public, with violent crime, burglary, and those elements of knife crime, we are very focussed on driving down the volume of knife crime in the West Midlands and, with our partners, we are continuing to have some success with that."

The latest release of national crime figures follows on from the force being recognised as the fastest improving force in the country after it was removed from special measures in July this year by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for the improvements it had made in record time.

The figures show there has also been considerable decreases in serious youth violence of nine per cent (7,144 offences) including a reduction in knife crime.

That figure was significant for the Chief Constable, who said that he felt that media reporting around recent incidents such as Shawn Seesahai's murder and the recent stabbing incident at Bescot Stadium Station was not reflective of the work being done, saying that it could be a mixture of negative reporting and the prevalence of social media.

He said: "The statistics show that knife crime is reducing quite considerably, but of course, some negative news sells good stories and that's just the situation we're in.

"Also, more and more people have got iPhone's and smartphones and are sharing stories outside of the media too, which adds to things, but the predominance is that violent crime is reducing and we are absolutely determined to make sure that it continues to reduce.

"It's about pushing that knife crime level down and the serious violence down and we are keeping resources in local policing as we still have officers that work in school and we work with our partners and want to divert young people away from the system that is much better than the cure, which is being behind bars."

Other highlights from the statistics were that domestic abuse reports have fallen by more than 14 per cent (54,863 offences), while the number of homicide offences has dropped by seven per cent (38 offences) and robbery is down more than five per cent (8,122 offences).

There has been a reduction of more than 13 per cent in vehicle crimes reported (28,452 offences) and an almost 12 per cent drop in burglaries (12,189 offences), while theft from the person has seen a huge 28 per cent decrease (3,236 offences).

The Chief Constable was also quick to acknowledge the Express & Star Silent Crime Campaign, which highlighted many cases where people either didn't call the police because they felt nothing would happen or felt they hadn't been helped by the police.

He said he wanted to reassure people about their crimes being reported and their voices being heard, while also acknowledging the challenges faced in terms of personnel.

He said: "We hope that the majority of people never have cause to be in contact with the police, but if they do need us, we answer their calls in record time and, where needed, respond and deploy officers quickly.

"Number one, people should report it as you will get through to us and get the phone answered and we will make a decision on whether we're going to come or not, if we're going to investigate that from this building or if we're going to send someone out to investigate it.

"We have means for you to send us your footage electronically without us needing to come, which is good for the individual and particularly good for the victims of domestic violence as we can take a video call and put that into evidence.

"That's a really good first step, but the message of reassurance is the model of policing we've got shows more local officers that we've had in years, but we're under no illusions as since 2010, we're still about 800 officers less today in the West Midlands."

While accepting that there were challenges ahead, the Chief Constable said the statistics served to evidence the improvements people were seeing in their communities.

He said: "While recognising that any offence is one too many, people in the West Midlands are statistically now less likely to be a victim of crime.

“Our officers and staff continue to work tirelessly to make substantial and sustained improvements in many important areas.

"Central to everything we do, is the public, keeping people safe and bringing offenders to justice.

"I know that we are committed to focusing every effort on preventing crime, working with our partners and communities to problem-solve and tackle the issues that matter most to people.”