West Midlands Police: Cops of the future to fight crime wearing body cameras and using smart phones

The WMP 2020 scheme involves the biggest ever overhaul of how the force operates and was instigated in the face of swingeing cuts that have seen £126 million wiped off its budget in the last five years.

Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe, who is responsible for delivering the project, said equipping officers with new technology will enable them to be more efficient when dealing with crime.

Although the force is in the midst of a recruitment drive to take on 800 officers, it is set to lose a similar number of officers due to retirements.

"The new ways of working will enable us to deal with demands more efficiently and allow us to meet the growing demands that we face with the number of officers we have," she said.

"We are grappling with a legacy of a number of years of austerity and it takes some time to turn that tanker around."

The new systems available to officers include 24/7 support from the force's intelligence department, which has teams based in Wednesfield and Willenhall, while almost all police cars will be fitted with data recorders.

Call centres dealing with 999 and 101 calls will be merged in a bid to deliver a more streamlined service.

Bosses say giving beat bobbies access to better information systems, including computers and mobile devices, should cut the time it takes to complete paperwork and let neighbourhood teams deal with incidents more swiftly.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner says the force's latest modernisation plans will be the equivalent of putting hundreds of extra officers on the beat.

David Jamieson said the force will be able to to make better use of its resources under the latest stage of the WMP 2020 scheme, which will see officers geared out with digital recording equipment and smart phones.

He has vowed to make protecting neighbourhood policing his 'number one priority' in the face of continuing budget cuts.

"The technology means that officers will have everything they need to hand. It is about making better use of what we have got and making better use of police time. This is the equivalent of putting hundreds of extra police officers on the street," Mr Jamieson said.

WMP has lost hundreds of officers in recent years, while 28 police bases in areas around the region have closed or will close in order to save more than £8 million.

Mr Jamieson, who has launched a recruitment drive to bring in 1,150 officers, PCSOs and specialist staff, said the WMP 2020 scheme would give officers more face-to-face time with the public.

"All of these changes are about making sure we put the right amount of resources into the right areas to tackle the crimes people are most concerned about.

"Every area will continue to have its own named police officers and, as promised, neighbourhood policing will always be protected – despite West Midlands Police facing the biggest budget cuts in the county.

"Better technology will mean that officers are able to spend more time tackling crime and less time in the station filling out forms."

Mr Jamieson said that by recording and retrieving information using hand held devices officers could free up 'around 30-60 minutes' per shift, giving them more time to interface with the public and to talk to people.

"It protects that vital part of the operation which is direct contact with the public," he added.

DCC Rolfe said officers would not have to return to base as frequently as before, meaning there was an expectation that they would be able to do more police work as a result of the changes.

The trial run, which took place in two force areas, including Wolverhampton, also saw a 93 per cent reduction in complaints against the police and a 54 per cent cut in the use of force by officers.

It means that all response officers across the patch will be issued with body cam equipment as part of the £1.7m scheme. WMP Chief Constable David Thompson said there had been a positive response to the equipment. "When they have a camera they find that people modify their behaviour. Officers feel quite confident," he said.

It comes after home office statistics revealed that crime in the region rose by six per cent over the last year, with violent crime seeing a 19 per cent spike.

Violent crime

DCC Rolfe said that events over the past few days, which saw violent incidents in Brownhills and Birmingham, had added to the concern. "We take violent crime extremely seriously," she added.

The project has also seen new custody suites open in Oldbury and Perry Barr, the refurbishment of Bloxwich police station and a revamp of the force's Lloyd House headquarters. It has also seen the launch of the Impact Pathways website, which aims to direct users to online support.