West Midlands Police chief: We need super force

Mr Sims – who will take up a national policing role after retiring as the second highest-ranking officer in the country – said resilience would be boosted by the merger and more costs saved.

But he acknowledged there was not the 'political' support for the move.

In his last interview as West Midlands Chief Constable, Mr Sims said: "You demolish borders – and borders are great for criminals at times.

"We work closely with colleagues in the region but that could be stronger.

"I think you get greater resilience and you get a transfer of skills. I am proud what West Midlands does but you can learn from other forces.

"Having been Chief Constable in Staffordshire and then at West Midlands, I probably hoped we would be further down the track with the work we do with other regional forces.

"We still run motorway policing and more serious organised crime work together. But if you asked me six or seven years ago, I would have thought there would be more convergence."

Plans to merge West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia, so-called 'super forces' were mooted a decade ago when Mr Sims was Deputy Chief Constable at West Midlands.

At the time he said £23 million would be saved a year allowing more officers to be recruited.

But after five years of government austerity, Mr Sims believes it is still the best option.

He says having 43 police forces in England in Wales is not sustainable.

He said: "I think policing in the wider West Midlands region would be stronger if we worked together. I'm heartened that there is fresh impetus on that.

"I still think there are advantages to a single organisation but equally i recognise politically there is no interest in it. so we think we need to look at collaborating closer. There are things that could be done at a national level but in terms of policing there are efficiency and effectiveness arguments that have been there for a decade or more."

Mr Sims also spoke out about controversial Police and Crime Commissioners.

He said they had lacked to 'engage the public' and were not the 'perfect model'.

He said: "There are elections in May and I would love to think that more people would turn out and it will be higher than it has been and because there would then be more legitimacy because people have gone to the ballot box."

But he stressed that he worked well with both the late Bob Jones and current commissioner David Jamieson.