'What’s the point?' Walsall Council leader calls for crime commissioner role to be scrapped

At a scrutiny committee meeting last week, Councillor Garry Perry said the post, currently held by Simon Foster for the West Midlands, is a ‘total waste of time’.

The leader got onto the subject when pressed about crime across the borough. Councillor Perry accused the PCC of prioritising Birmingham. He said: “If I had my way, I would abolish that role. It’s a lot of money for nonsense.

“The powers are invested in one man who says he can’t influence operational activity. So what’s the point? I would abolish them, I think they’re a waste of time.

“I sat on the Police and Crime Panel last year. I went to two meetings, but I didn’t go again. It has no teeth, it has no power to influence. It’s a talking shop and I walked away from it.”

Reports of serious crime from across Walsall have felt continuous in recent months, leaving residents shaken and deeply concerned about their safety. On 8 July, 20-year-old Connor Brookes lost his life in a daylight shooting on Well Lane, Blakenall.

In the same month, on July 30, a woman in her 20s was stabbed in Walsall town centre on Leicester Street. The very next day four men were hospitalised following reports of fighting and the firing of gunshots at a car on Reedswood Lane, Birchills on July 31.

On August 2, a woman was found with stab wounds inside a property on Highgate Avenue, Caldmore. Later that month on August 28, a man was robbed by knifepoint on George Street, Walsall. A boy aged just 16-year-old was detained on suspicion of robbery in relation to the incident.

Into September, a man was hospitalised after being stabbed in the back on Bloxwich Lane on September 1. Just this week, on Tuesday, a man was taken to hospital with serious stab wounds following an incident on Wolverhampton Road.

Section 60 powers, where police can stop and search anyone without reasonable grounds, have been in place on three occasions since July. From July 8, August 1 and from Wednesday this week.

Councillor Perry said: “There’s never an excuse to use violence. There’s never an excuse to pick up a knife and stab someone, or worse, kill them. We should not excuse that on society’s ills. There has to be an element of personal responsibility. Our community needs reassurance.

“I do not feel the PCC for the West Midlands is a visible presence in Walsall. He prioritises Birmingham, he gives you political responses when you’re asking valid questions.

“The communities we serve are not interested in that. They want to know what you are doing and how you’re working with the chief constable to prioritise policing in Walsall.”