PCC vows more beat bobbies for West Bromwich in violent crime crackdown
More officers will be put on the beat in West Bromwich as part of a clampdown on violent crime, police chiefs have said.
The town has been hit by a series of violent assaults in recent weeks, including separate incidents on High Street involving a hammer attack and mass brawl with machetes.
It prompted the intervention of Policing Minister Kit Malthouse, who in a Commons address described the violence as "a shocker" and called on police chiefs to "pay attention" to pleas for extra support.
His intervention has prompted West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson to pledge new officers for the town.
Labour PCC Mr Jamieson said: "After years of government cuts, meaning we have lost over 2,000 officers since 2010, and rising levels of violent crime nationally the West Midlands is finally being given some extra funding to bring in additional officers.
"As is always the case, the Chief Constable will allocate where the new officers will be deployed, but I am confident this will mean more police based in West Bromwich.
"It is worth pointing out however that despite some extra funding we will still end up with hundreds of fewer officers than we had in 2010."
West Bromwich East MP Nicola Richards, said: "I’m really pleased that after weeks of pressure from myself, ministers and most importantly our communities in Sandwell, the PCC has agreed to get more police on the streets of West Bromwich.
"It took him a little while to come to this decision, but I have been clear since I was first elected that I’m willing to work with anyone who shares my vision of making West Bromwich town centre a place we can all be proud of once again.
"This is exactly why the Government has invested more money into Police funding - so the PCC has greater resources available to tackle the alarming rates of crime in our area. It was one of the key manifesto commitments I stood on at the last election, so I’m glad to see this move in the right direction.
"No one is under any illusion that the problem of crime is going to be solved overnight, but I’ll continue to work with the police, ministers and people in our community to do all I can to ensure my constituents feel safe in the town centre once again.”
WMP is due to get more than 1,200 new officers as part of a Government recruitment drive to bolster police ranks.
