West Midlands Police chief to step down after Commonwealth Games

Sir David Thompson said the Commonwealth Games would be a huge operation with up to 3,000 officers policing events

The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has revealed he is to step down from his post after the Commonwealth Games.

Sir David Thompson has held his role since 2016, before which he was the force's Deputy Chief Constable.

He said the Games, which will be held in venues across the region from July, was a "big moment".

"After that I think it will be a good time for the force to have some new leadership," he said.

Although he remains "very enthusiastic about policing" Sir David said it was time for the force to start looking for a successor.

The role is one of the most prominent in the country. The force is the second largest in England, serving a population of almost 2.8 million people.

Speaking to BBC Midlands Today, Sir David said things had changed over the years.

"As policing has got smaller... the force has got nearly 2,000 less officers [than in 2010], the range of things police deal with has grown," he said.

"Ten years ago it was burglary, robbery, vehicle crime. It's [now] County Lines, it's modern slavery, domestic abuse has grown. So the stretch of what police do has got bigger during that time."

Sir David added it had been a "difficult few years for policing" across the country.

As well as enforcing unpopular Covid-19 restrictions, he said officers had been called on to police Black Lives Matter protests during that time. He also cited events surrounding Sarah Everard's death as some of the toughest in recent memory.

However, he said the force's greatest challenge was violence involving young people.

Despite official figures showing an 8% drop in knife crime in the 12 months to September 2021, he said there had been some "ferociously violent" incidents.

"They're small numbers, but the impact is massive on communities," he said. "We know more young people are being drawn into gangs."