Commonwealth Games: West Midlands Police has 'had to make sacrifices'

A vehicle crime victim said she felt let down by police as the focus shifts to the Commonwealth Games

West Midlands Police has had to make sacrifices to deliver the Birmingham Commonwealth Games but can still be depended on by victims of crime, the force's boss says.

Up to 3,000 officers will be working the Games, leaving some people concerned regular policing will suffer.

A car-jacking victim told the BBC she felt let down by police pressures.

But Chief Constable Sir David Thompson said support had been drafted in for the Games from other police forces.

Sir David said other police forces were supporting the Commonwealth Games operation

"We've got police officers all the way from Jersey to Scotland here," he said. "We're working together as a region on the operation and we're supported by national colleagues.

"We certainly have had to make some sacrifices to make sure it's a successful Games," he added, saying: "We're restricted leave, our officers are not going to have anywhere near the amount of days off and they're also working longer hours."

The Games officially open on Thursday evening and run until 8 August.

On Wednesday, a woman spoke to the BBC after a group of men jumped into her father's car at the weekend in Birmingham, moments after she had taken out her baby son.

She said she was still waiting for West Midlands Police to take statements, adding she had been told by the force that pressures caused by covering the Games had delayed the process.

West Midlands Police said its security operation for the Games was the biggest the force had ever seen

The force responded to say it was examining CCTV and investigating the use of a card also stolen from the car.

"A considerable part of our planning for the Commonwealth Games has been to ensure that the communities of the West Midlands continue to receive a high standard of service from policing that they should expect," a spokesperson said.

"Policing, so often the service of first and last resort, will never step away from those who are in crisis."