Police Fed chair slams top brass for being soft on knife crime

West Midlands Police Federation chair Richard Cooke said the force's top brass were "too busy making excuses for criminals".

He said there were instances of youths arrested with blades but not being locked up, and warned the criminal justice system was sending out "confused messages".

Sgt Cooke also said officers were frustrated at a "lack of backing" from chiefs who had overseen police station closures and politicians who had slashed force budgets.

It comes after the latest official figures show the West Midlands has the highest rate of knife crime in the country after offences increased by more than a half over 12 months.

Sgt Cooke told TalkTV: "Most of my colleagues would agree we need tougher sentences but unfortunately the powers that be – chief officers and above – don’t seem to agree.

"They seem to be too busy making excuses for criminals. There’s confused messages going through the criminal justice system.

"Even at the point of arrest, I can tell you examples of people who have been found with knives in areas where murders have happened and because they’re still classed as juvenile, they’ve been refused detention in custody.

"That’s because of protocols within the system and they need to stop. And what the police need to do is make sure that whenever anyone’s caught with a knife they’re kept in custody, they’re charged and they go before the courts."

He added: "We need far tougher sentences on knife crime. There’s supposed to be rules around repeat offenders going to prison, and even those aren’t enforced.

"We see time and time again, offenders with the most vicious weapons on the street that we have arrested, we have dealt with, we put them before the courts and they’re released the same day."

Sgt Cooke said officers were "frustrated"at a the lack of backing from police leadership and politicians, the latter of which had "decimated the police service over the last 10 or 12 years".

Calling for the return of policing that was "rooted in local communities", he said: "We’ve had this business culture in the upper echelons of policing, who’ve decided we need to treat the public like customers.

"They’ve taken away local police stations – mine has been turned into luxury flats. We’re no longer in communities. We don’t know what’s going on as much. And we’re far further away from the public than we’ve ever been."

Sgt Cooke also said there were "far too many mixed messages" on stop and search and called for "less bureaucracy" so the force could "go out there are really tackle the criminals".

West Midlands Police saw its budget slashed from 2010, leading to swingeing cuts to officer numbers and the closures of dozens of police stations.

Current Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has warned that further cuts may be on the horizon.