West Midlands Sees 8% Crime Drop: Knife Crime Down 6%, Burglaries Slashed by 12% in Major Policing Win
Total crime reported across the West Midlands has been reduced by 8% with nearly 30,000 fewer victims in the last year. That’s double the national average.
The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) covers the period year ending October 2023 to September 2024, and shows that WMP is cutting crime that matters most to our communities which includes knife crime which has fallen by 6%, home burglaries are down 12%, robbery down 8%, vehicle crime down 11%.
National statistics released today show the West Midlands is safer as crime reduces in nearly all areas thanks to faster responses by police, more arrests, better victim care and good investigations.
Further key areas that have seen reductions include serious youth violence which is down by 11% along with domestic abuse down by 11% with 13,000 fewer victims and theft from the person offences are down by 29%.
An abundance of funding and dedicated resources continue to be ploughed into reducing knife crime which remains a top priority for WMP. This is particularly important following last week’s fatal stabbing of 12-year-old Leo Ross in Hall Green. For many years WMP has seen some of the highest knife crime offences per 1,000 population. That has now changed, we no longer occupy that unenviable position as we continue to see sustained reductions. That’s down to some very intense work with our local partners and the support of the public.
From Response to Results: West Midlands Police Deliver Record Crime Reductions, Including 11% Drop in Youth Violence
Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “Our officers and staff continue to work tirelessly to make substantial reductions in crime, to arrest more offenders and to ensure they are held to account for their crimes whilst we continue to protect the vulnerable. The data reflects some very significant changes to the way we police on behalf of our communities on a daily basis.
“It’s fantastic to see that our hard work is continuing to pay off and we are continuing to make our communities safer with the majority of crime falling. The statistics are clear, there are now considerably fewer victims of crime across the West Midlands. It is important to remember that these statistics are only up to last October, the last few months have brought even further reductions in crime.”
Mr Guildford continued: “It is particularly pleasing that we have seen a considerable drop in knife crime over the last year. I met some pupils from Leo Ross’ school yesterday and thanked our officers for supporting staff and pupils after such a senseless crime. We are all very focussed upon preventing such tragedies but no statistics can ever mitigate the loss of such a young and promising life.
“The latest statistics serve to evidence the improvements people are seeing in their community. While recognising that any offence is one too many, people in the West Midlands are statistically now less likely to be a victim of crime.”
Like most areas of the country, we have seen an increase in shop theft but again we are on the right track in addressing this crime. Over the last year, we have arrested 743 (39%) more people in connection with shop theft and we have solved more than 3,379 offences (126%) compared to last year.
In October, we were pleased to announce that the force was recognised as the fastest improving metropolitan force in the country after it was removed from special measures in July last year, by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) for the improvements it had made in record time.
We have seen immense improvements around performance and the overall service it provides to people since the implementation of a new local operating model almost two years ago and the opening of two more custody suites so we are able to arrest more people. Later this year, a further custody suite will be opened in Bournville.
The force has also made significant changes to how people contact police, which in turn has led to us being one of the best, if not the best force in the country when it comes to both our 999 and 101 service.
We answer approximately 60,000-70,000 emergency 999 calls a month, the highest volume per head of population in the UK. Our average call answering time is now just one second (November to January) which is an exceptional service on behalf of the public.
On average we now answer our non-emergency 101 calls in under 10 seconds. Eighteen months ago that took us 29 minutes. We are also responding to those calls for service more quickly now that our response officers are based locally following changes to our operating model.