Tents keeping police officers sheltered and warm at crime scenes

West Midlands Police officers are now using the equipment regularly after the idea was thought up by a police sergeant within the force support team.

The proposal was picked up by the region's Police Federation deputy secretary Chris James who was contacted by the officer in November 2020.

It came after the sergeant had been inspired by Facebook posts advertising tents with transparent sides used by parents at children's outdoor events.

But after an investigation by Mr James they were branded not "police officer proof" due to the material involved not being durable enough for regular use.

It led the officer to a US-based company called Under the Weather, which supplies the New York Police Department and parts of the US military with tents.

Mr James, who was given the green light to place the order last September with 20 arriving in February this year, said: "The tents can be used at any crime scene which is not suitable for an officer in a vehicle. So that could be areas such as woodlands or fields but also in back gardens, because obviously if a house is the scene then we need to maintain the integrity of both entrances so we would normally have someone at the front in a car and someone round the back.

“I have sat in the freezing back garden of a murder scene just before Christmas and that is quite a regular occurrence. The tents are primarily to keep officers sheltered, warm, dry and out of the wind and it gives them somewhere to sit and fill in their scene logs and that sort of thing."

The piece of equipment arrived in Birmingham and were distributed across the force support unit hubs and response bases – and are now in regular use with officers at various crime scenes.

Mr James added: "I have spoken to a handful of colleagues and the feedback is that the tents have been really useful, do the job and seem like a decent bit of kit. They are being used regularly now."