West Midlands Police

Historical image of Sedgley police station

Prior to the formation of West Midlands Police as it is known today, the area now covered by the force was served by a total of six smaller constabularies. These constabularies were as follows:

• Birmingham City Police 1839–1974: Established in 1839 following an outbreak of Chartist rioting that the Metropolitan Police had to help quell, officers from Birmingham City Police first took to the streets on 20 November of that year.[10] Initially with a strength of 260 officers paid at a rate of 17 shillings a week,[10] the constabulary expanded to keep pace with the growth of the city with the final areas to be added before the force's amalgamation in West Midlands Police being the Hollywood area.[11]
• Coventry Police 1836–1974: Formed with the Municipal Corporations Act in 1836, Coventry Police was initially only twenty officers with the support of a single sergeant and one inspector.[10] The force reached a strength of 137 officers by 1914 and continued to grow until in 1969 it was merged with the Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary, part of which it remained until the formation of West Midlands Police.
• Dudley Borough Police 1920–1966: Formerly part of the Worcestershire Constabulary, Dudley gained its own police force on 1 April 1920 following a review by His Majesty's Inspector that had suggested previous policing arrangements were unsatisfactory.[12] Dudley Borough Police remained independent until the Royal Commission in 1960 which resulted in its inclusion as part of the newly formed West Midlands Constabulary.
• Walsall Borough Police 1832–1966: Moving away from a 'watch' system, Walsall Borough Police were formed on 6 July 1832 with an initial strength of only one superintendent and three constables.[13] As with the other regional forces, Walsall Borough Police expanded with the area's population and in 1852 appointed its first two detectives. The force took on its first female recruits in 1918 and in the 1960s became one of the first forces to issues its officers with personal radios. As with Dudley's police force, Walsall Borough Police became part of the West Midlands Constabulary following the Royal Commission.
• West Midlands Constabulary 1966–1974: Lasting only eight years, West Midlands Constabulary was a newly formed force encompassing a number of smaller borough forces including Dudley Borough Police, Walsall Borough Police, Wolverhampton Borough Police and parts of Staffordshire and Worcestershire Constabularies.[14] The creation of the West Midlands Constabulary was the consequence of 1960's Royal Commission into policing.
• Wolverhampton Borough Police 1837–1966: The formation of Wolverhampton Borough Police was approved on 3 August 1837 under the condition that the strength of the force not exceed sixteen men.[15] The Police Act 1839 saw Staffordshire County Police taking over policing in Wolverhampton with Wolverhampton Borough Police regaining responsibility for policing the town in 1848. At the turn of the 20th century the force was 109 strong, reaching a highpoint of around 300 before the force became part of the short lived West Midlands Constabulary in 1966.

West Midlands Police motorbikes in the 1970s

West Midlands Police was formed on 1 April 1974, owing to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 which created the new West Midlands metropolitan county. It was formed by merging the Birmingham City Police, the earlier West Midlands Constabulary, and parts of Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary, Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary and West Mercia Constabulary. The first Chief Constable appointed to the new force was Sir Derrick Capper, the last Chief Constable of Birmingham Police.

Between 1974 and 1989, the force operated the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad. It was disbanded after allegations of endemic misconduct, leading to a series of unsafe convictions. These included allegations that officers had falsified confessions in witness statements, denied suspects access to solicitors and used torture such as "plastic bagging" to partially suffocate suspects in order to extract confessions. They were alleged to have abused payments to informers. A series of around 40 prosecutions failed in the late 1980s as defendants showed that evidence had or may have been tampered with. West Yorkshire Police led an investigation which led to a small number of internal disciplinary proceedings, but did not recommend any prosecutions for lack of evidence. However, over 60 convictions secured from their investigations have now been quashed, including those of the Birmingham Six.[16]

West Midlands Police had two serious firearms incidents, in 1980 and 1985. In 1980, David Pagett held his pregnant girlfriend as hostage while resisting arrest by the police. Officers returned fire, and shot her.[17] Police had initially tried to claim that Pagett has shot her, but it became clear that it was police bullets that had caused her death. In 1985, John Shorthouse was arrested by West Midlands police for questioning about armed robberies in South Wales. His house was then searched. His five-year-old son, John, was shot by police searching under the child's bed. An internal inquiry was held, and as a result, use of firearms was restricted to a specialised and trained unit.[18]

Allegations of bribery and corruption were made in 1994 by World in Action. The convicted criminal David Harris alleged that West Midlands police officers had demanded payments of more than £200,000 to keep criminals including himself away from prosecutions. Other allegations from police officers focused on officers attempting to persuade others to accept bribes. The CID was the focus of an investigation by Leicestershire Police at the request of the Police Complaints Authority.[19]

Under proposals announced by the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, on 6 February 2006, West Midlands Police would have merged with Staffordshire Police, West Mercia Constabulary and Warwickshire Constabulary to form a single strategic force for the West Midlands region.[20] This, along with a number of other mergers which would have cut the number of forces in England and Wales from 43 to 24, were abandoned in July 2006 after widespread opposition from police and the public.[21]

Because of the prisons' overcrowding crisis in Birmingham in October 2006 three dozen police cells are to be made available to house inmates in Birmingham to help ease congestion. (By contrast, one contemporary account reported, in 1833, that for days the city gaol had been entirely empty.[22]) Despite a dip in the number of prisoners that month, prisons in the region are close to capacity or already full. Between 32 and 44 cells were set aside at Steelhouse Lane police station, in Birmingham City Centre, in case of emergency. West Midlands Police has an established agreement with HM Prison Service to provide cells in the event they are needed.[23]

In October 2008, the Chief Constable Sir Paul Scott-Lee announced he would not be renewing his contract in May 2009, after seven years in the post. His replacement is Chris Sims.[24]

On taking office, the new Chief Constable announced that the force would be realigned to exist alongside council boundaries, abolishing the Operational Command Units (OCUs) and reforming as Local Policing Units (LPUs). In April 2010, the force reorganised from 21 OCUs into ten new LPUs.[25] There were also changes to the HQ departments, including the new Local Policing Department, the new Public Protection Department and Force CID (formerly Crime Support). These changes were introduced as part of 'Program Paragon' with the aim of making savings for the force of around £50 million.[26]

The aim is to move certain functions from local areas into the central departments – such as dealing with complex or serious crimes, along with finance, IT and administration tasks, so that the local policing units can concentrate on local policing issues. There is also the long-term aim of reducing the number of Contact Management Centres from ten (one each for each LPU) to one, covering the whole of the force.

The force attracted controversy in 2010 when Project Champion, a £3 million scheme to install a network of CCTV cameras in the predominantly Muslim areas of Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook, came under fire from local residents and civil rights organisations.[27] A total of 218 cameras had been planned for installation but the project was abandoned following concerns over their legality and objections from residents and local councillors that they had not been consulted by the force.[28]

Owing to the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review, the force has been required to make savings totalling £126 million over a four-year period.[26] Projects including Continuous Improvement and Priority Based Budgeting (PBB) have been established to identify where such savings can be made with a variety of options explored.[29]

The force is one of many to implement Regulation A19, requiring officers with thirty year's service to retire and have made redundancies for police staff ranks.[30] The force had been exploring Business Partnering options involving working with private companies but this plan was halted by Bob Jones, the force's first Police and Crime Commissioner, upon him taking office.[31]

In July 2014 West Midlands PCC agreed to a £25m contract with Accenture[32][33]

West Midlands Police HQ - Lloyd House

West Midlands Police is managed by a Command Team who are based at the force's Lloyd House headquarters in Birmingham. They work alongside an elected Police & Crime Commissioner who sets the budget and priorities for the force. The Command Team are able to participate in respective LPU Daily Management Meetings by utilising a video conferencing system.[37]

The West Midlands Police Command Team is currently composed of six officers and three civilian staff:[38]

Numerous changes have occurred and the most up to date information is shown on WMP's website:[38]

• Sir Derrick Capper (April 1974- June 1975)[41]
• Philip Knights (August 1975 – 1985)[42]
• Sir Geoffrey Dear (1985–1990)[43][44]
• Sir Ron Hadfield (June 1990 – July 1996)[45]
• Sir Edward Crewe (August 1996 – c. September 2002?)[44][46]
• Sir Paul Scott-Lee (October 2002 – April 2009)[47]
• Chris Sims (1 June 2009 - January 2016)[48]
• Sir Dave Thompson (January 2016-)

The following two tables show data recorded for financial year ending March 2019 on recorded crime compared against the total for England and Wales (including West Midlands Police.)[49]

The following table shows data recorded in the twelve months up to September 2013 on recorded crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB), quality of service, finances and workforce numbers for West Midlands Police compared against average data from England and Wales' 43 police forces:[50]

The following table shows recorded crime for West Midlands Police by offence group for the year ending September 2013:[51]

The following table shows the percentage change in recorded crime for West Midlands Police by offence group for the year ending September 2013 compared against the year ending September 2012:[51]

The following table shows the percentage detection rates for West Midlands Police by offence group for 2012/2013:[52]

The following table shows the West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner Finances in millions of pounds for 2014-15 compared with 2013-14:[53]

Dave Thompson stated that unforeseen pensions expenses of £8.6m in 2019 and £13.9m in 2200, from a budget of £514m cost roughly as much as 500 officers and would lower the total number of officers to 6,000, contrasted with 8,600 in 2010. Thompson added, “There is no question there will be more obvious rationing of services. The public can already see it is going on. We are already not pursuing crimes where we could find a suspect. We are doing things now that surprise me. We are struggling to deliver a service to the public. I think criminals are well aware now how stretched we are. These further cuts will leave us smaller than we have ever been. There is unquestionably more demand than there was in 1974.”[54]

The area covered by West Midlands Police is divided into ten Local Policing Units (LPUs). Each LPU is headed by a Chief Superintendent who is responsible for the overall policing and management of the area. He or she is supported by a Local Command Team (LCT) composed of a varying number of Superintendents and Chief Inspectors.[55]

Each LPU has a number of dedicated Neighbourhood Policing teams. These cover a specific area and are headed by a sergeant with support from a number of police officers, PCSOs and sometimes special constables. The force operates a number of police stations.

The ten LPUs are:

Each LPU is run by a Local Command Team (LCT) consisting of a Chief Superintendent supported by a number of Superintendents & Chief Inspectors. Each member of the LCT has assigned responsibility for specific elements of policing and are organised according to the following structure:[55]

West Midlands Police is structured in such a way that there are four key teams in each LPU who have the responsibility for dealing with everyday policing duties.[65] The force's current structure was gradually introduced over the past two years with the Solihull and Birmingham South LPUs being the first area to see the change in June 2011[66] and the Walsall LPU being the last in January 2013.[67] The structural change was introduced as part of the force's 'Continuous Improvement' program with the ambition of working in a more cost effective and efficient manner and was overseen under the advice of accounting firm KPMG.[66]

Prior to Continuous Improvement, the force had operated with larger response and neighbourhood teams and smaller teams allocated to prisoner handling roles. Community Action & Priority Teams were a new addition to the force's structure under Continuous Improvement.

The core policing teams are:

The 'CAPT' support neighbourhood officers to address local issues and resource demands for service not met by other departments. They can be allocated to neighbourhoods suffering particular issues, for example anti-social behaviour, and are also often Public Order trained, so are used for policing football matches, demonstrations and similar occasions.[68] As with the Investigation Teams, the Community Action & Priority Teams are supervised by a sergeant who reports to an inspector.

Key responsibilities of community action and priority teams are as follows:[68]

• Supporting Neighbourhood Teams – Providing specialist support to Neighbourhood Teams for example, conducting drugs warrants or addressing anti-social behaviour.
• Addressing local issues – Supporting other front line policing teams and completing tasking as directed by LPU Local Command Teams
• Providing support for abstractions – Resourcing abstractions such as football matches, demonstrations and similar incidents so that Neighbourhood officers are able to focus on their beats.

Officers on Investigation Teams have three main responsibilities, these being secondary investigation, prisoner handling and attending scheduled appointments with the public.[69] These officers are also responsible for completing prosecution files and other paperwork necessary for taking cases to court. Investigation teams are split into a number of shifts, each supervised by a sergeant, and will have an inspector supervising the sergeants.

Key responsibilities of Investigation Teams are as follows:[69]

• Secondary investigation – Following initial attendance of incidents by Response Team officers, investigations are allocated to Investigation Teams who conduct any follow up enquiries that are required.
• Prisoner handling – Offenders arrested by Response and Neighbourhood officers are handed to Investigation Teams who will interview and retain ownership of the investigation up to the point of its conclusion.
• Scheduled response – Operating on a diary system, Investigation Team officers attend pre-booked slots with members of the public who are wanting to report none urgent matters.

Neighbourhood officers with their bikes

Aligned to specific neighbourhoods, these officers seek to tackle long term issues affecting local areas and attend community meetings. There are one hundred and seventy one neighbourhoods across the West Midlands[3] and officers assigned to neighbourhood teams are often supported by PCSOs and Special Constables. It is not uncommon for busier areas, such as town centres, to have several neighbourhood teams such as the St. Matthews beat covering Walsall Town Centre which has two teams.[70] Neighbourhood teams usually have a single sergeant who reports to a sector inspector.

Response officers work in shifts around the clock answering the most urgent calls for service received through the force's call centres. It is not unusual for response officers to work alone and each response shift usually has a number of officers who are authorised to carry Taser.[71] In addition to Taser, some response officers also carry mobile fingerprint ID machines to confirm identities at the roadside.[72] Response officers undergo enhanced driving training and also have a range of other skills required to perform their role including 'method of entry' training so that they can force entry into premises. Many Response officers are also public order trained in order to respond to spontaneous disorder should it occur. Response teams are supervised by a number of sergeants and an inspector.

Key responsibilities of Response Teams are as follows:

• Primary investigation – Attending incidents in the first instance, Response officers gather available evidence and record offences. Follow up enquiries are then allocated to the Investigation Teams.
• Missing person enquiries – Response officers conduct investigations into missing persons with a low or medium risk assessment.
• Traffic – Officers from Response Teams attend reported Road Traffic Accidents, sometimes supporting Force Traffic in the case of serious collisions.

The core policing teams are supported by, and work closely with, a number of specialist crime teams.[73] West Midlands Police had a mounted division which was disbanded in 1999 to divert funds elsewhere, the former stables on Pershore Road, Birmingham, now house the driving school.[74] Current specialist crime teams include:

G-BAKS on hire to West Midlands police in 1978

The force's first helicopter, G-WMPA, an Aérospatiale AS355 F2.[75]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Midlands Police helicopters.

The Midlands Air Operations Unit is a consortium of West Midlands, Warwickshire, West Mercia and Staffordshire Police which is based at Birmingham Airport and has operated since 25 July 1987.[76]

After experimenting, since the 1970s, with civilian helicopters hired on an occasional basis,[77] West Midlands Police launched their own air unit on 10 May 1989 with G-WMPA, an Aérospatiale AS355 F2.[76] G-WMPA was subsequently fitted with a gyro-stabilised camera turret with daytime and thermal image cameras, plus a Nitesun Searchlight and Skyshout PA System.[78] It was sold to a buyer in Switzerland in 2007.[79] From January 2000 they operated G-WMID, a MD902 "NOTAR" helicopter,[80] named "Miss Mollie Collins",[81] after a child who had "shown tremendous courage in dealing with her disability",[82] in a local newspaper competition.[81] This aircraft was subsequently re-registered as G-KSSH and is the Surrey air ambulance.[83] In July 2007 G-WMID was replaced by a Eurocopter EC135 P2+, G-WMAO.[84] G-WAMO was destroyed by arson in the early hours of 8 June 2009, while at Birmingham Airport.[85] From October 2009 to July 2010, they used a Eurocopter EC135 T1, G-SUFF,[86] loaned by the manufacturer.

They now operate another Eurocopter EC135 P2, G-POLA, acquired in July 2010.[87] The EC135 offers a range of capabilities including high definition thermal video recording, a microwave downlink to send images to control rooms, a 30 million candlepower spot light and an enhanced navigation system.[88]

All of the above helicopters have had a casualty evacuation role[89] for occasions when a Midlands Air Ambulance was unable to attend meaning that they are able to carry a patient in a stretcher for transport to hospital.[90]

Under the terms of the National Police Air Service, a helicopter is available as a resource for use by neighbouring forces and in turn, West Midlands officers can call upon other forces' helicopters should their own be unavailable.[91]

The West Midlands Police force area includes Birmingham Airport which is on the Solihull LPU,[92] but not Coventry Airport which is on the Warwickshire Police force area and so policed by their own officers.[93] Birmingham Airport has a dedicated airports policing team assigned who work closely with HM Customs and Excise and UK Visas and Immigration officials.[94] Officers working at the airport have additional powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 as the airport is 'designated' under the terms of the Act[95] and some are armed.

West Midlands Police is one of the two police forces who contribute officers to the Central Motorway Police Group, the others being Staffordshire Police.[96] CMPG operate out of three main bases, the main headquarters being under the M6 motorway at Perry Barr at which their central control room and vehicle depot is situated.[97] CMPG also have a regional control centre in Quinton, Birmingham shared with the Highways Agency.[98] Officers attached to CMPG cover a wide geographical area, including in the West Midlands the M6, M54 and A45.[96]

Based in Birmingham, the counter terrorism unit (CTU) is responsible for co-ordinating the force's counter terrorism activity in the West Midlands region. CTU works under the guidance of the Government's national counter terrorism strategy, CONTEST, with the aims of pursuing terrorists, protecting the public, preparing for a possible attack and preventing terrorism by working in the community to address the causes of terrorist activity.[99]

As part of the CTU's role in working with the community, its structure includes a Prevent Team which is a group of officers who visit schools, community groups and partner agencies to raise awareness about the work on the unit. Exercises include Act NOW, a tabletop exercise explaining what happens during a counter terrorism operation and WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent), a presentation aimed at front line public sector workers and organisations that work with potential victims of radicalisation.[100]

A police dog

Most dogs in the West Midlands Police Dog Section are products of an in-house breeding program which the force has been running at its Balsall Common training centre since 1994.[101]

Specialist search dogs including Springer Spaniels and Labradors are also used by the Dogs Unit to locate drugs or firearms and explosives. Dogs are continually recruited from rescue centres and from members of the public. All specialist dogs are handled by officers who already have a general purpose police dog, giving the handler responsibility in both training and operational deployment.[102]

There are currently 69 operational dog handlers working in West Midlands Police, and dogs undergo an initial training program lasting twelve weeks.[103] Officers with the Dog Section patrol in specially adapted Skoda patrol vehicles with air conditioned cages capable of carrying up to three dogs in the rear[104] and operate from bases at Aston, Canley and Wednesbury.[105]

The events planning department has responsibility for co-ordinating large-scale events taking place within the force area and also for ensuring that officers are available should they be required to support other regional forces through mutual aid arrangements.[106] One major responsibility of the department is organising the policing operation for the Autumn political party conferences that are often held at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham City Centre. Included within this department also is the Football Unit who coordinate policing of football games within the West Midlands and operate a team of 'spotters' to identify violent supporters and banned individuals.[107]

The policing of large-scale events such as football matches, VIP visits and public demonstrations can be coordinated from the force's Events Control Suite (ECS) at the Tally Ho facility in Birmingham. The ECS is able to receive live CCTV footage and has computer facilities for the use of partner agencies with whom the suite is shared.[108]

Equipment in a West Midland Police armed response vehicle in March 2014

West Midlands Police operate a number of Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs) that patrol the region around the clock and are available to respond to incidents typically involving guns, knives or dangerous dogs.[109] Officers undertake a ten-week selection process to join the firearms unit with courses being delivered on weapons, tactics and advanced driving. Most of the ARVs used by the firearms unit are unmarked Audis, converted with the rear seats removed and gun safes installed.[110] Officers with the firearms unit carry Taser X26 stun guns, SIG P229 9mm pistols, H&K MP5 SF A2/A3 9mm semi-automatic carbines and H&K G36K SF, G36C SF and SIG Sauer SIG516[111] 5.56mm semi-automatic rifles.[112]

Alongside attending firearms incidents, officers attached to the firearms unit also provide tactical advice when planning operations and give lectures on firearms awareness to officers and members of the public.[109] The force also has a Firearms Licensing Department which is responsible for the issue of shotgun and firearms certificates to members of the public and explosives certificates to companies requiring them.[113]

Detached from the LPUs, Force CID is staffed by officers holding a detective qualification and investigate serious and complicated crimes not taken on by Local CID or other departments. Such offences include murders, serious assaults, blackmail and arson. Force CID is arranged into a series of Major Investigation Teams and work from bases at Bloxwich, Harborne, Aqueous 2 (Aston) and Willenhall in Coventry.[114]

Working within Force CID are a series of Payback Teams who are responsible for arranging asset seizures and confiscations under the Proceeds of Crime Act. During 2011 offenders were forced to pay back £6.3 million from proceeds of crime, a 39% increase on the previous year.[115]

Based at Park Lane, Chelmsley Wood and Wednesbury,[116][117] the force traffic unit has responsibility for roads policing on all roads inside the West Midlands other than the motorways which are covered by the Central Motorways Policing Group. Officers from the force traffic unit usually hold advanced driving grades and have access to a range of high-powered marked and unmarked vehicles, including BMWs and Audis fitted with evidential video recording equipment. Force Traffic is supported by a Collision Investigation Unit based at Aston Police Station who investigate accidents involving fatalities or life-changing injuries.[116]

Forensic scene investigator at the scene of a burglary

Officers are supported by a team of civilian forensics scene investigators approximately one hundred strong who attend crime scenes and examine seized items to obtain forensic evidence for use in court.[118] Formerly known as scenes of crime officers (SOCO), scene investigators have access to a wide range of specialist equipment to help with their role and alongside gathering forensic samples; they also are responsible for crime scene photography.

West Midlands Police has dedicated intelligence cells based on each LPU who collate and disseminate information collected by officers from a range of other sources. This role involves 'sanitising' intelligence logs and forwarding them on to relevant persons, receiving information from outside sources such as Crimestoppers, and assisting with the progression of investigations.[119]

The intelligence unit is responsible for organising briefing material for officers and police leadership; they also include a covert operations unit, who coordinate undercover policing operations under the terms of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

West Midlands Police is a partner alongside Warwickshire Police, West Mercia Police and Staffordshire Police in the Regional Intelligence Unit collaborative working agreement under which information is shared between the forces on serious and organised criminals affecting the West Midlands Region.[120]

The Operations Integrated Emergency Management service is responsible for ensuring that the force is ready to respond to major incidents, that business continuity plans are in place and that the force's duty under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 is satisfied.[121] This work includes running exercises and drills to test readiness and working closely with other emergency services and local authorities. As part of the service's work, the force also maintains a number of Casualty Bureau facilities at which calls from the public are taken and collated following a major incident such as a plane crash or terrorist attack.[122]

Each LPU has a Local CID team of officers who hold a detective qualification and conduct secondary investigations into serious offences that occur within their area. Offences that fall under the remit of Local CID include burglary of dwellings, personal robberies, frauds and some vehicle crime.

All ten LPUs have an offender management unit (OMU) who work with partner agencies to concentrate on the offenders living on their areas identified as being particularly difficult or damaging. Offenders who fall into this category include those designated as prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs), drug users, violent criminals and young criminals.[123]

Officers from the OMU manage their assigned PPOs under two strands. One consists of rehabilitation and resettlement under which partner agencies are involved in an effort to halt re-offending whilst the other consists of catching and convicting offenders who have been identified as not participating in rehabilitation programmes or are wanted for outstanding crimes.[123]

An OSU officer using specialist method of entry equipment

Working from Park Lane, Chelmsley Wood and Wednesbury Stations,[124] the operational support unit is a team of officers specially trained in areas including Public Order policing, method of entry and searching.[125] Officers working with the OSU are typically deployed as part of a 'serial' of one sergeant and seven officers and have access to a host of specialist equipment and vehicles including armoured land rovers.

The public protection unit (PPU) investigates reports of sexual assaults and incidents involving children and vulnerable people. PPU is split between adult and child investigations, is responsible for safeguarding and works with partner agencies such as social services and domestic violence charities.[126] As with CID, most officers working in the PPU hold a detective qualification.

The safer travel team is a collaboration between West Midlands Police, the British Transport Police and CENTRO focussing on criminal activity occurring on the public transport network.[127] The team is composed of officers and PCSOs who patrol trains, buses and trams in the region.

The Partnership, the first of its type in the country, also has access to around 1,000 CCTV cameras which are located at bus, rail and metro stations, park and ride sites and in bus shelters.[128] The dedicated control centre is staffed 24 hours a day to spot and respond to incidents.[128]

Based at Lloyd House, the professional standards department have the responsibility for the recording and assessment of all public complaints, whether they are made about police officers, police staff or special constables. PSD also has a role in investigating serious reports of misconduct and corruption involving members of the force.

Members of the public are eligible to make a complaint if they are the person who the behaviour about which they want to complain about was directed towards, if they were ‘adversely affected' by said behaviour or if they were an eyewitness to said behaviour.[129] A person is 'adversely affected' if he or she suffers any form of loss or damage, distress or inconvenience, if he or she is put in danger or is otherwise unduly put at risk of being adversely affected.

PSD work alongside the Independent Office Police Conduct (IOPC), to whom they will refer the most serious allegations.[129]

Where appropriate, PSD have a range of outcomes following disciplinary panels, including no action, counselling (management advice), written warning, transfer to another post, withholding increments and dismissal.[130]

West Midlands Police recorded 1536 complaints for 2011/12, an 18% drop in comparison to 2010/11 during which 1871 complaints were recorded.[131]

Also known as Corporate Communications, the West Midlands Police Press Office is centralised at headquarters and is charged with representing the force's public image. Staff working in the Press Office are the first point of contact between the media and the force, they organise press releases, press conferences and complete a range of other public relations functions.[132] Each LPU has dedicated Territorial Communications officers and in addition to addressing media enquiries, the Press Office also looks after the force's website and publishes the force's internal online newspaper, News Beat.

Officers from Solihull taking part in a web chat

West Midlands Police maintains a presence on a variety of social media websites including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and blogging platforms.[133] Each LPU has a dedicated Facebook and Twitter account, with more than 200 departments, officers, PCSOs and special constables also tweeting from officially endorsed accounts.[133]

The force has used various social media accounts to promote its activity in a variety of ways including running photo competitions,[134] holding live web chats with senior officers[135] and hosting live tweeting events from operations.[136]

Several of the force's social media accounts have won recognition as examples of best practice, including Solihull Police's Twitter feed which came first place in the 2012 Golden Twits' Customer Service category[137][138] and Inspector Brown's Mark Hanson Digital Media Award 2012 for his mental health blog.[139]

Officers belonging to the special constabulary have the same powers as full-time officers and are unpaid volunteers, giving a minimum of sixteen hours a month of duty time.[140]

Initial training for special constables lasts 22 weeks, and when deployed they wear the same street uniform as other officers. They can be identified as Specials by their collar numbers, which start with 7 and the 'SC' on their epaulettes.

Special constables provide West Midlands Police with around 96,000 hours of voluntary duty each year and usually work alongside regular officers on neighbourhood teams, response teams[141] and also Community Action & Priority Teams.[68]

In November 2018 it emerged that the police force had blocked white male officers from promotion, setting aside half of all promotion slots for women and ethnic minority candidates in seven out of eight of the year's promotion rounds. In the year's final round the force continued to discriminate, by blocking white male applicants for two days. A complaint by the Police Federation union noted that the practice was illegal and condemned it as "not fit for purpose". As a result West Midlands Police "paused" the practice.[147]

Officers wearing typical street uniform

West Midlands Police officers wear the traditional black custodian helmet in the rose style, with seamed joined and thin black metal band with a Brunswick star that reads 'West Midlands Police'.[148] Female officers wear a black bowler hat with Sillitoe tartan banding for foot patrol and mobile patrol.[148] Traffic officers wear a white peaked cap with Sillitoe tartan banding, or a white bowler with Sillitoe tartan banding hat for mobile patrol,[149] as do officers holding inspector rank or above although their caps are black rather than white.[150]

PCSOs always wear a peaked cap with a blue band, or a bowler hat with a blue band for female PCSOs, and all officers, whether Constable or PCSOs, when travelling on bicycle wear a black cycle helmet with 'Police' inscribed on it.[151]

Armed Response or Dog Section officers wear black protective baseball caps that read 'Police' and have a Sillitoe tartan pattern on the sides[152] whilst motorcycle officers and Air Operations officers wear specialised hard helmets with in-built radio microphones.[153]

Officers' standard street uniform consists of black lightweight zip-up shirts, black trousers and a high visibility protective vest. White shirts were replaced by the black T-shirts in 2010 at a cost of £100,000 but are retained for court and station duties.[154] Officers are issued with fleeces, weatherproof pullovers, fluorescent jackets, high visibility tabards, waterproof over trousers and slash resistant gloves.

Aside the standard street uniform, there are a variety of additional uniforms issued to officers performing specialist roles. Public Order trained officers wear two piece fire retardant overalls and boots with additional body armour and NATO helmets,[155] whilst those with the Cannabis Disposal Team wear one piece jumpsuits and hard hats.[156] Officers working with the OSU searching teams are issued thicker winter coats and tie cord trousers.[157]

Shoulder insignia for ranks above police constable are as follows:

• West Midlands Police warranted officer ranks
• 
  Sergeant
• 
  Inspector
• 
  Chief Inspector
• 
  Superintendent
• 
  Chief Superintendent
• 
  Assistant Chief Constable
• 
  Deputy Chief Constable
• 
  Chief Constable

When dressed for public order policing, officers wear coloured epaulettes indicating their respective roles. Bronze commanders wear yellow epaulettes, inspectors wear red epaulettes, sergeants wear white epaulettes, tactical advisors wear blue epaulettes, medics wear green epaulettes and evidence gathering officers have orange epaulettes.[158]

Collar numbers within West Midlands Police are between two and five numbers long. Prior to 2006 collar numbers were up to four numbers in length, the numbering system was altered in 2006 to accommodate proposed changes that would have been introduced by a merger of local forces. Officers to have joined since 2006 have five figure collar sequential numbers starting with a 2, PCSOs have collar numbers starting with a 3, police staff have collar numbers starting with a 5, special constables have collar numbers starting with a 7 and transferees from other forces have collar numbers starting with 29.

As part of standard issue Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), officers carry Sepura TETRA radios, rigid handcuffs, CS spray and an extendible friction lock baton.[159] Officers also have access to first aid kits, limb restraints and torches.[160]

Officers have access to a huge range of additional equipment for specialist operations, some of which requires training before it can be used.

In terms of 'method of entry' equipment, main stations usually have a store in which is kept battering rams,[161] pulley bars, hydraulic presses, ladders and even circular saws for cutting away bars.[162]

Traffic units, particularly officers performing collision investigation duties, use laser plotting devices to accurately survey collision sights and carry devices that can be used to measure road friction and deceleration values.[163]

Forensic teams can call for the deployment of tents to cover crime scenes, lighting rigs, stepping plates and a host of other items required to help them preserve evidence. Laboratories have installed drying cabinets, microscopes and sampling equipment for the securing and analysis of specimens.

A marked Vauxhall Insignia as used by response officers

The standard marked patrol vehicle for response and neighbourhood officers has been the Vauxhall Astra although these are gradually being phased out in favour of automatic Vauxhall Insignias. A number of Peugeot 308, Peugeot Expert cage vans, LDV Maxus cage vans and Ford Focus vehicles are included in the fleet also.[164] All of these vehicles are modified for police usage with radios installed, lights, sirens and a 'run lock' facility enabling officers to take the keys out of the ignition without stopping the engine running, thereby ensuring the battery isn't depleted if the lights need to left on for long periods.[165]

Police motorcycles

For routine patrol and 'scheduled responder' duties, there are a number of marked Vauxhall Corsas in the fleet.[166] There are also unmarked and largely unmodified Astras and Insignias for use by non-uniform departments such as CID.

Force Traffic have a range of marked and unmarked patrol vehicles, all modified with the same equipment as response vehicles but with the addition of ANPR/HD video cameras, data terminals and accurately calibrated speedometers. Vehicles used include the BMW 3 series, BMW 5 Series and Volvo S60.[164] Motorbikes used include the BMW R1200RT[167] and Yamaha FJR.[168] Motorway patrols are conducted by the CMPG in marked Jaguar XF vehicles.[169]

Firearms units tend to use the unmarked Audi A6 and marked BMW X5 which are modified with gun cabinets, radios and bullet proof plates.[164] Dog Units have assigned Škoda Octavia Estate vRS vehicles with air conditioned cages built into their boot.[164]

For public order duties, West Midlands Police use Iveco Daily vans with equipment racks in the rear for the storage of shields and other public order equipment.[164] Armoured Land Rover Defenders are also available for public order situations.[170]

West Midlands Police Fleet Services also has a range of specialist recovery vehicles including the Iveco Flatbed Trucks[164] and portable custody vans.[171]

There are three different levels of driving grade within West Midlands Police which are as follows:[172]

• Basic driver: Officers with a basic driver grade are able to drive marked and unmarked vehicles but are not allowed to exceed speed limits or use the lights and sirens. The basic driver course lasts around half a day.
• Standard driver: The standard driver grade allows officers to exceed the speed limit by up to 20 mph and conduct the initial stages of a pursuit providing it is safe to do so. The standard driver course is three weeks long.
• Advanced driver: Drivers holding an advanced grade are able to drive higher performance vehicles at speeds above the extra 20 mph granted to standard drivers and receive additional training in pursuits and specialist techniques such as making a silent approach towards incidents. The advanced driver course is four weeks long.

Further to the above grades, the driver development school also provides bolt on courses relating to driving police carrier vehicles, four by fours and VIP escort skills.

As of October 2010 there were 18 custody suites designated under PACE for the reception of detainees.[176] Not all of these custody suites are currently used by the force, most have been mothballed owing to budget restraints and have been replaced by two planned 'super blocks', each with sixty cells @ Perry Barr and Oldbury.[176] Other current custody suites are as follows: Bournville (B'ham South) 17 cells and Coventry Central (Little Park Street 26 cells and Chace Avenue, Coventry for terrorism cases only.[176]

During an overhaul of the CCTV systems used in the force's custody suites that was completed in 2011 at a cost of £2.5 million, a networked range of audio and visual recording equipment was installed allowing staff to monitor detainees for the purposes of ensuring their safety and furthering investigations.[177] Footage is recorded to RAID storage devices with a total capacity of 1400 terabytes.

West Midlands Police operate a Custody Visiting Scheme under which independent representatives from local communities are able to access detention facilities to observe, comment and report upon the welfare and treatment of detained persons.[178] Visits are conducted at random by volunteers working in pairs who then write a report on the feedback gathered during their visit.[179]

In 2017 a joint inspection of the force's custody suites was conducted by HMIC and Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons.[176]