West Midlands police out of special measures after ‘record turnaround’

England’s second largest police force has been judged to have improved so much it can come out of special measures imposed by the official inspectorate.

West Midlands police was judged to be in crisis and subjected to enhanced monitoring and review last November.

The force, which covers Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton, said it was the quickest exit from special measures of any law enforcement agency.

The judgment was made by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. Its official name for special measures is Engage.

When the force was placed in special measures, the clear-up rate for crime in the West Midlands area had crashed to 3%. It has now more than quadrupled to 13%. The inspectorate said the force had also improved in managing the risk posed by registered sex offenders and online child abuse offenders and increased efforts to keep vulnerable people safe.

At one point, six out of 43 local forces in England and Wales were in special measures. There are now three: Devon and Cornwall and Nottinghamshire police as well as the largest force in the country, the Metropolitan police.

The Met has been in special measures for more than two years. Senior police sources say there are concerns that two more forces may be placed in Engage.

The West Midlands police turnaround is faster than that of Greater Manchester police, which took just under two years, having been placed in Engage in December 2020.

The West Midlands chief constable, Craig Guildford, praised reforms he had bought in as well as his staff for what he called a record turnaround. He said: “Our arrest rate has doubled, as has the number of offenders brought to justice. We are now the best-performing force of our most similar group when it comes to solving burglary, robbery and murder, and the number of rapes we solve has nearly doubled.

“We have arrested and charged more offenders for vehicle crime and we have seized a record number of firearms.

“These changes have been made while WMP has achieved the largest reductions in crime across England and Wales, with there being 44,600 fewer victims or 12.1% less crime.”

His majesty’s inspector of constabulary Lee Freeman said the force still had more improvements to make: “We are reassured by the plans the police force has in place to continue making improvements, particularly in relation to our recommendations on how well the force carries out effective investigations. We will continue to assess its progress to make sure the people of West Midlands are getting the service they deserve.”

The warm words on Wednesday were in sharp contrast to last November when the force was placed in special measures, drawing criticism from Guildford and its police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster.

In November Guildford 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.”