West Midlands police commissioner calls on PM to increase officers

PCC David Jamieson said new police officers should be allocated based on the crime threat and need of forces

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to increase officer numbers in regions facing a higher threat of crime.

West Midlands PCC David Jamieson said he was concerned new recruits would be "directed to low-crime rural areas".

It comes after the prime minister promised to recruit 20,000 police officers across the UK.

Mr Jamieson said officers should be allocated based on the "need of forces".

In a new year letter to the prime minister, he said the West Midlands had lost 2,131 officers since 2010 but was only expecting to receive funding for about 1,200 new recruits.

The prime minster and Home Secretary Priti Patel visited Birmingham shortly after announcing the recruitment drive

He also invited Mr Johnson to visit the region to discuss the "urgent need" for major investment in policing.

In the letter, he said: "One of your key promises during the election was to recruit a further 20,000 police officers across the country.

"This I welcome. My concern however is that there is a danger that a disproportionate number [of] these recruits will be directed to low crime, rural areas of the country such as leafy Surrey and not where they are most needed."

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He added: "We need the funding to return officer numbers to 2010 levels.

"I am concerned that resources have once again been divided using a blunt and outdated formula that disadvantages areas like the West Midlands and helps leafy, lower crime areas that have lost fewer officers than forces like ours."

He also called on the prime minister to reduce the number of exclusions to prevent children being driven into violent, drug-related county lines.

A government spokeswoman said: "The government is delivering on the people's priorities by recruiting 20,000 extra police officers over the next three years and putting violent criminals behind bars for longer.

"Six thousand of these additional officers will be recruited by March 2021 as part of the unprecedented drive to increase their ranks.

"Yesterday, the home secretary announced that the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner will also receive further funding for the force area's specialist Violence Reduction Unit."