Police 'forced to fight for lives' dealing with drunken violence in Walsall

Chief Superintendent Phil Dolby revealed the horrors his teams face as he described the night-time economy as a "blight on the town".

At a recent scrutiny overview committee meeting, Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said he wished the town closed at 6pm because of the crime levels.

Ch Spt Dolby, who was made commander in Walsall 12 months after nearly dying of coronavirus, told the meeting: “The night-time economy in the town is a blight upon the town. My officers and I have done it until five in the morning. They are physically fighting for their lives.

“It’s not something that is going to bring anything to the town other than the wrong people.

“The nature of young people going out has changed over the last two years. They come late, they don’t come until about midnight.

“What happens at 4am when everyone is chucking out is really difficult. There used to be a model where when we left at midnight, other cops would come in.

“That model isn’t there any more so at the moment I’m spending a lot of public money on overtime to keep officers there until five in the morning.

“Of course, the hospitality industry is having a terrible time and I’m not trying to damage people’s business but we can’t afford to keep using public money to do that.”

Police have had to deal with a number of incidents in and around the town centre during the past few months.

These include two men being stabbed in the early hours of a Saturday in January during an attack which took place in Leicester Street.

Meanwhile at around 4am 4am on Saturday, September 11 last year, 31-year-old Dan Wheeler suffered a fractured skull and bleed on the brain when a car mounted a pavement in Bridge Street and knocked him down.

And a week after that incident, a man was left needing hospital treatment after suffering a nasty cut to his head during a fight which involved three other men. He was punched and banged his head on the floor in Leicester Street

Councillor Bird said the council could help the police in its role licensing premises in the borough.

The Conservative authority leader said:“I used to say years ago, Walsall closed at 6pm. I wish it did now because the crime we get from alcohol fuelled individuals.

“This is something we can assist when the committee is reviewing hours of opening, cumulative impact policy and things such as that.

“Also, when we look at any regulatory committee – whether it is taxi licensing, community protection – I think the people who sit on the committees who make those decisions need to look at themselves very hard and say, ‘how can we help the police? How can we be the partner the police can be proud of?'”