Commissioner welcomes record police numbers but says communities must feel the benefit
The region's police and crime commissioner has welcomed the record level of officers in the force, but says what matters is the impact on crime.
John Campion, West Mercia's Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner, was speaking after the regional crime panel approved his budget plans for the year.
The proposals will see a 5.94 per cent increase in the police proportion of the annual council tax bill.
It will cost households an extra 29p per week – meaning an average Band D household will pay £246.50 a year.
The budget includes a number of plans from the commissioner, such as increased spending to improve the force's IT infrastructure, the creation of specialist team of 55 officers to support local Safer Neighbourhood teams, as well as introducing the DRIVE domestic abuse perpetrator programme across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin in an effort to tackle violence against women and girls.
It comes as the force now has more officers than at any point in its history – 2,395.
Mr Campion said he was pleased that the budget had been approved, and welcomed the increased number of officers, up 41 on the previous year, but said it would only matter if communities felt the impact of more police on the streets.
He said: "When I came to office in 2016 we were seeing declining numbers and greater reliance on our reserves but now we set a balanced budget and have 508 more officers than we had then.
"What it is not is job done. Just having numbers on the books does not affect our communities – it is whether they see them and whether they feel the benefit.
"The next bit is I want to see it reflected in statistics, in the satisfaction level of the public.
"I want to hear my communities saying they regularly see police officers and know how to get in touch with them when they need to."
Inspection findings from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) last year revealed concerns over IT infrastructure at the force.
It concluded unreliable IT systems were leading to inefficient working practices, and were affecting the quality and accuracy of the force's data and management reports.
Mr Campion said that funding from this year's budget will be dedicated to the improvement of the force's IT.
He said: "What we will see is further resources being pumped into improving the system, with a big investment in technology as we start to see more technology rolled out to front line officers."
Mr Campion also said that West Mercia had been held back from IT improvements during its alliance with the neighbouring Warwickshire force – which he brought to an end.
He said: "That is one of the reasons leaving our policing alliance with Warwickshire was so important. It was not necessarily a priority for them but we know it was a priority for us, so knowing we could get the ongoing investment in resources was vital."
Mr Campion said he was confident the proposal for the new team of 55 officers would make a difference to communities across the region, and said he was mindful of the impact of tax rises on hard-pressed households.
He said: "I do not believe in high taxation. We as a system should be working out what we need to get the job done and work out how we might fund it, and taxation should be about spending the money we get with great efficiency.
"At 29p a week we will still see benefits of the additional officers becoming ever more present for our communities, and I think communities support that."
