Public could take ‘bigger role’ fighting crime amid police cuts, chief constable says
Chief constable of West Midlands Police David Thompson said he was not asking people to “jump in and do dangerous things”.
The public could take a “bigger role” in keeping neighbourhoods safe amid lower police numbers, according to a senior officer.
West Midlands Chief Constable David Thompson said the public could become more “active citizens” in their communities, and act as “extra eyes, ears and – on occasion – hands” of the police.
He added he would “never ask the public to do the job of police”, and was not expecting people to “jump in and do dangerous things”.
“It’s not about doing the job of the police, but playing a stronger part in their communities, keeping an eye out for neighbours or mobilising and helping the police when we perhaps need a bit of assistance”.
West Midlands Police’s top officer said he wanted to see a change in people’s attitudes as he pointed to his own force’s loss of more than 2,000 officers since 2010 due to budget cuts.
Mr Thomspon, who runs the largest police force outside London, said: “I’d never ask the public to do the job of the police, but there’s a lot less police.
“There’s 2,200 less police officers here in the West Midlands, since 2010.
“It’s a big reduction and I’m not surprised some of our visibility feels a bit lower in communities.”
He said such help might extend to simply looking out for neighbours or delivering advice leaflets in their local area, after a spate of burglaries.
Mr Thompson said: “What we would all recognise is living in communities, there’s probably a bit more we can do to keep an eye on our neighbours, to keep an eye on what’s going on in the area, actually to challenge very basic things, to act as extra eyes, ears and – on occasion – hands for the police.”
Mr Thompson said the rule of law was still “really important”, and that criminals would always be hunted.
“But at the same time things have got a lot more complex,” he added, saying there was “a precious level of resource, particularly to investigate crime”.
He added: “I don’t believe in drawing a line under certain things (offences).
“What we try and do is make really good decisions and trust our officers … and to prioritise what we do.”
