West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has launched a new four-year plan to tackle crime across the region. Speaking in Smethwick, he set out priorities including youth violence, neighbourhood policing, support for victims, and road safety.
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00:00Here at the Brass House Centre in Smedwick, Simon Foster is laying out what he sees as
00:06the West Midlands biggest challenges when it comes to crime and what needs to change.
00:11His police and crime plan sets out a four year road map, shaped by local feedback, focused
00:17on prevention, visibility and support. One of the headline issues is serious youth violence
00:23including knife crime. It's something we've seen devastate families and communities and
00:29the impact is lasting. Many offenders and victims are in their teens or early twenties.
00:35The commissioner says the plan puts more funding and focus on early intervention, diversion
00:40and stronger links between police, school and community groups.
00:45Youth violence and knife crime was identified as people's top priority. So that is going
00:52to be reflected in my new police and crime plan. The plan is making sure that we need
00:58robust policing to deal with those people who are intent on causing harm, to make sure
01:05that there is action being taken around disruption and enforcement. But the plan also emphasises
01:12that we need to invest in prevention and early intervention and diversion and addressing
01:18the underlying causes of youth violence and knife crime. And we will be continuing to
01:23invest in a whole wide range of projects taking place across the West Midlands in order to
01:28do exactly that.
01:30Another major focus is neighbourhood policing. For many residents, the lack of regular visible
01:36police presence has created a feeling that communities are on their own.
01:40Simon Foster says he wants to rebuild trust by making sure there are more officers in
01:45more places who know the area and the people. The plan sets out to boost local patrols,
01:51creates better communication between the police and the public and make reporting issues easier.
01:57But the question for many is whether there's enough resource behind the promise and how
02:01quickly will people notice the difference?
02:05Continuing to rebuild community policing is a top priority within the plan. Why is that?
02:11Because we say in this country, don't we, that we police by consent and there's no better
02:14illustration of policing by consent than community policing. And I am committed to
02:19continuing to rebuild community policing. Why? Because we need that accessible, visible
02:25and reassuring presence out on the streets to keep people, families, businesses and local
02:30communities safe and secure. And the Chief Constable and I have recently submitted a
02:34bid to the Home Office for 150 additional police officers to be allocated into neighbourhood
02:41policing as part of the Government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. And at the moment we're
02:45awaiting sign-off and approval of that from the Home Secretary. We've made it very clear
02:51as well to the Home Office that if there is any possibility of recruiting additional officers
02:56then we are ready, willing and able to do so.