West Midlands police said they did not deserve the humiliation of being placed into special measures, as the official watchdog declared the force was failing victims and needed extensive improvement.
The second biggest force in England and Wales, based in Birmingham, is accused by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) of carrying out poor investigations into crimes, leading to poor results for victims.
Chief constable Craig Guildford made public his disagreement, citing a host of improvements he claims to have made since taking over the force last December.
Another chief constable told the Guardian that police leaders increasingly feel the inspectorate is treating them unfairly, making unrealistic demands and failing to appreciate limited resources mean choices have to be made. “You cannot get a gold star for everything,” they said.
HMIC placed West Midlands police in “Engage”, known colloquially as special measures, after an inspection. It will be seen as a sign of the crisis gripping policing.
West Midlands joins four other forces in special measures, including the country’s biggest, the Metropolitan police. The other forces judged to be failing and of concern are Devon and Cornwall, Staffordshire and Wiltshire.
The clear-up rate for West Midlands police had fallen to 3% by December 2022, but has since trebled.
HMIC gave four grounds for subjecting West Midlands police force to special measures. As well as failing victims, it is accused of failures over managing registered sex offenders and effectively managing the risk posed by suspected online child abusers. HMIC also exposed failures in protecting vulnerable people.
Wendy Williams, from HMIC, said: “We move police forces into our enhanced level of monitoring, known as ‘Engage’, when a force is not responding to our concerns, or if it is not managing, mitigating or eradicating these concerns.
“The ‘Engage’ process provides additional scrutiny and support from the inspectorate and other external organisations in the policing sector.”
In a rare move, Guildford attacked the decision. He said: “Although I remain respectful of [the inspectorate], I completely disagree with their decision-making to move West Midlands police into ‘Engage’ now despite providing them with recent evidence that should inform a much more comprehensive and fair assessment of the force.
“When I joined WMP … I recognised there needed to be a significant improvement in the force’s performance, the number of offenders brought to justice and the service we provide to local communities.
“It was for this reason that I implemented a rapid overhaul of the operating model …
“Our arrest rate has increased by a third, as has the number of offenders brought to justice. This continues to improve each month.
“We have gone from being one of the worst call-handling forces to one of the best in 11 months; and have improved the proportion of emergency incidents attended within our specified targets by 25%.”
The West Midlands is expected to be a key battleground in the forthcoming general election.
The home secretary, James Cleverly, blamed “a failure of leadership” from Labour’s police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands.
Simon Foster, the PCC, said the force had been hit hard by government cuts. It still has 800 fewer officers compared with before the Conservative government slashed police numbers. The big urban forces rely more on central government funding than more rural counterparts.
Foster’s role is being abolished next year, with oversight for policing passing to the West Midlands mayor, the Conservative Andy Street.
Foster said: “The inspection is already materially out of date, as a consequence of the action that has or is already being taken.
“I have been repeatedly warning the government that its reckless cuts to policing, which even after the so-called police uplift, left West Midlands police with 1,000 fewer officers than it had in 2010, have caused immense damage to the force.”
Street said: “I feel for those officers who are working tirelessly to keep us all safe, but most importantly I’m concerned for the victims of crime who must be our priority.”
