The West Midlands' most senior police officer says the region is a safer place to live than when he arrived over a decade ago
Chief Constable Sir Dave Thompson, who is retiring next month, said a huge amount of work was being done to tackle violent crime.
He acknowledged the force was under "pressure" due to budget cuts.
"I think it's a safe place to live and work and I think its got safer," he told the BBC.
"We have got some serious crime issues that we see. We do have that in the force, no question and my successor's going to be busy with that.
"But actually those serious crimes affect a very small portion of the population as a whole."
The number of teenagers involved in knife crime in the West Midlands has more than doubled in the past five years.
However, Sir Dave said the number of crimes in which young people are stabbed had dropped this year.
"I'm really proud of what we've done in the West Midlands to create the violence reduction partnership, to create the interventions. It's not just the policing game, there is more to do than this," he said.
"But, like any of the big cities. It is the number one challenge and parents as we have said, can play a huge part in helping us with this."
