West Midlands Police officers under-reported use of force - report

West Midlands Police has been placed in special measures over a range of failings

West Midlands Police (WMP) officers' use of force in the course of their work was under-reported thousands of times in a year, inspectors have said.

In its latest update, the police inspectorate estimated 46,000 incidents for the year ending 31 March 2022 when use of force was "under recorded".

WMP, which has been placed in special measures, was found to have been inadequate in three out of eight areas.

The force said inspectors had recognised "rapid action" it had taken.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said it had serious concerns about how West Midlands Police investigated crime, protected vulnerable people and managed offenders and suspects.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said it was important to acknowledge the scale of the funding challenge West Midlands Police faced

It "requires improvement" in another three of the eight areas - responding to the public, leadership and force management and developing a positive workplace.

Last month it emerged the government would watch the force closely and the monitoring level was escalated to "Engage", an enhanced form of monitoring, as the inspectorate said it was not effectively addressing its concerns.

Police and crime commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster and Chief Constable Craig Guildford said they completely disagreed with the decision.

The inspectorate has now released a detailed report into the force's performance which found a number of issues including:

• In the year ending March 2022, 16.5% of recorded incidents where officers used force were against people from a black or black British background, whereas based on the 2021 census the local black population is 8.1%

• WMP did not give a good enough level of service to victims in 37 of 95 cases the inspectorate examined

• It acknowledged the force did a good job of investigating many of the most serious crimes, but in a crime file review it judged only 54 out of 100 investigations as effective

WMP said many of the issues identified had developed as a result of a previous operating model and were based on data "which does not reflect the improvements we have achieved" since the launch of the force's new model in April this year.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: "It is also important they [the inspectorate] have acknowledged the scale of the challenge we face in securing the funding and resources we need to meet demand and prevent crime and protect the public effectively."

WMP said since implementing the new local policing model, changing Force Contact and opening two more custody suites, its arrest rate had increased by more than 40%.

It had "also increased the number of offenders brought to justice and this continues to improve each month", the force stated.

Analysis, Rob Mayor, West Midlands Political Editor

This report lands as a row over who should be responsible for policing in the region intensifies.

Last month the government said it would scrap the role of PCC and transfer oversight of the force to the West Midlands Metro Mayor after elections in May.

The PCC, Labour's Simon Foster, has threatened legal action over what he describes as an "illegal power grab".

Now a last-minute consultation has been launched and will run until the end of January.

While West Midlands Police says it has a plan to improve support for victims and put more offenders in court, do not be surprised if the final decision on who is best placed to have responsibility for policing is made in a courtroom as well.

The police force said it had gone from being one of the worst call-handling forces to one of the best in 11 months, answering 96% of calls in 10 seconds in November.

It said it had improved the proportion of officers attending emergency callouts within target times, was working hard to improve investigations and crime detection and had "significantly increased" the number of rape cases solved.