Improve management of sex offenders, West Midlands Police told

The force said the review stated it was "good at preventing crime, tackling serious organised crime and treating the public well"

West Midlands Police needs to improve its management of sex offenders, a watchdog has said.

Inspectors found some staff lacked confidence in some areas and others who did not have the training they needed.

The watchdog found other areas of police work required improvement, but also some areas, such as preventing crime, which it rated as good.

The inspection took place during the pandemic which accentuated some issues, police said.

Making sure the force has the resources to control the risk sex offenders pose was one of the issues highlighted by the report.

Inspectors from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said some staff who worked with sex offences lacked confidence in the processes they should follow when examining digital devices.

"We identified examples of investigations being handled by Sex Offender Managers who don't have the training they need to investigate cases involving indecent images of children effectively," the report said.

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Inspectors identified three areas which required improvement which were:

• Investigating crime

• Supporting victims

• Protecting vulnerable people.

Insp Wendy Williams said she saw some examples of good practice.

"But the force lacks capacity in its investigation teams and investigations aren't always overseen effectively.

"So it is less likely that investigations will have a satisfactory result for the victim."

In the year to March 31 2021, West Midlands had the highest rate of firearms offences (24.5 offences per 100,000 population) and knife crime offences (1.55 offences per 1,000 population) of any force in England and Wales.

It also recorded one of the highest rates of domestic abuse incidents, with 29.8 per 1,000 population, compared to the average of 20.4.

Serious crime disrupted

The inspectorate rated the force "good" for preventing crime, recording crime data, treatment of the public, use of resources and disrupting serious organised crime.

It was rated adequate for responding to the public, managing offenders and developing a positive workplace.

Deputy Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said the inspection coincided with the introduction of new operational technology to the force which will offer long-term improvements but created short-term disruption.

"We recognise we need to do more to improve how we investigate some crimes," she said.

"We are working hard to achieve this with measures such as an end-to-end review of investigations and our detective academy. We have already addressed most of the issues identified in the management of sex offenders."

She added: "While we are pleased that inspectors recognised our crime recording as good, we believe the current system is in need of urgent reform. Accurate crime recording is important but the current system is overly bureaucratic, creates a misleading picture of crime and does not act in the public interest in the way it operates."

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said he was pleased to see improvements and strengths had been recognised but said the findings highlighted "the challenges that are faced".

"West Midlands Police 'can't meet the demand for its services in protecting vulnerable people with the resources it has'," the Labour member said.

Mr Foster called for a "fair funding" deal for the force to help implement the report's recommendations.