COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Cuts could see the closure of Coventry police stations with officers instead based in city centre shops.

West Midlands Police may have to close stations and put officers in supermarkets and doctors surgeries instead, the Chief Constable has warned.

Chris Sims said he expected even more budget cuts in the years to come – on top of the £126 million the force has already been told to save by 2014-15.

And he warned that West Midlands Police could not justify its current property empire of 146 separate sites at a time when the number of staff was being slashed by more than ten per cent.

West Midlands Police has already announced a series of cuts to opening hours at 12 stations across the region.

As previously reported Foleshill police station, which currently opens from 7am until 10pm, will now open at 12 noon and close at 8pm.

Willenhall station, currently open 24 hours a day, will now be open from 8am to 10pm.

In a report considered at a meeting of the police authority yesterday, Mr Sims said the force was committed to making no further changes to front offices, where members of the public can speak directly to officers, until the end of the 2012-13 financial year.

But this appears to suggest that changes could be made after April 2013, when the next financial year begins.

He said in the report: “Over the next few years there will be further reviews of our front office estate, in particular the locations and the opening times, to ensure we have open stations in the right places and they are open when they are required.

“We will also examine how the service can be transformed through other methods such as community volunteers, shared provision with other partners, use of technology in the community etc.”

And in a section of the report titled “The Force will need to reduce its estate”, he added: “We need to consider the best means of providing enquiry services that meet public need at reduced cost.

"Providing diary services can help but we need to understand the public appetite for sharing enquiry services with partners or other ways they would like us to work.”

The Chief Constable highlighted the results of a survey carried out as part of the public consultation over cuts to police station opening hours.

He said “Feedback from the online survey shows that people are much more likely to go to locations such as doctors’ surgeries and supermarkets than police stations and that if the police were available in locations such as these we would be more accessible to them.”

Chief Constable says: "We have to change"

A PLAN that sets out how the police will operate in the next three years amid unprecedented budget cuts has been unveiled.

The launch coincides with Chief Constable Chris Sims visiting every local policing unit in the region to speak to staff.

He said: “As a result of substantial reductions in our funding it is clear that we have to change as we move forward.

“We have been through a period of unprecedented change.

“Since March last year over 1,700 staff have left the organisation but we have continued to respond to calls effectively and crime levels are back to those not seen in a decade.

“At the same time levels of satisfaction with feedback and action taken are showing some of the highest figures ever recorded since contact counts was launched.”

Changes to the way police work in Coventry were also addressed by Sgt Alexander Tarr at a meeting of the Henley Ward Forum at Grace Academy on Wednesday night.

He said that alterations would allow neighbourhood teams to work more closely with partner agencies and focus more on medium and long term goals, adding: “I think it will be advantageous to neighbourhood teams - I really do. This is about looking at how we use resources.”

Traffic police in Coventry and Solihull reduced to one patrol car as cuts begin to bite

TRAFFIC police will have just one car to patrol the whole of Coventry and Solihull from next month.

An experienced city policeman says that will leave the city’s streets understaffed.

The whistleblower is warning that a shake-up following government budget cuts will also see some front line police forced into back office roles. He claims traffic officers patrolling the area are being cut by 75 per cent compared with two years ago.

He says that will mean just a single traffic patrol car covering the whole of Coventry and Solihull from next month.

There are currently eight officers – in four patrol cars – on hand at any one time in Coventry and Solihull.

Traffic officers drive high performance vehicles, attend on-going incidents and are deemed essential in maintaining “pursuit capability”.

The officer – who asked to remain anonymous – is one of 68 cops being taken off traffic patrol across the force from April 2.

West Midlands Police Federation insist most of these officers are being transferred to man phone lines on three new Crime Service Teams, which it says aim to process crimes without the need for an officer to attend.

The police officer said: “These patrol roles are vital and mean you have officers out on the streets.

“You are a visible presence and a deterrent. But you also have the capability to deal with the jobs that come in. By pulling us off the streets that has been reduced.

“The worrying thing is people who break the law get to know this and they see we have no pursuit capability. On average pursuits only last a few minutes and now there’s a much greater chance of offenders getting away.”

A major multi-million pound cost-cutting restructuring across West Midlands Police began in 2010 called Operation Paragon.

This saw the number of traffic officers patrolling in Coventry at any one time reduced from six down to two, while Solihull also kept two.

New changes from April 2 will see just two of these officers responsible for patrolling both Coventry and Solihull. “They’re saying it is to improve the service and will not affect front line policing,” the officer said.

“But we’re front line and I’m now working in a back office answering phones with most of the others. I didn’t join the police force to sit in an office, I joined to be proactive and enforce the law on the streets.

He added: “The public have not been told and think they have a local police department patrolling the roads. We’ve got cuts coming and it’s affecting front line policing across Coventry.”

West Midlands Police insist traffic officers from elsewhere in the region could be sent to attend 999 incidents in Coventry.

Traffic Chief Inspector Chris Edwards, said: “Given the tough financial climate we must deploy our resources on a more intelligence-led basis in order to meet the challenge of delivering a first-class service with less resources.

“Vehicles and officers will be deployed based on our assessments of risk, threats and demand and not simply on a geographical quota basis.”

He added: “Traffic officers continue to work alongside local policing resources in sharing all aspects of policing responsibilities.

“We continue in our determination to disrupt criminals using our road network as well as striving to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured.”

PCs cut in West Midlands Police dog unit

The number of police constables working in the West Midlands Police dog unit is to be cut by eight to 50 from April.

However, police said the number of dogs used would not necessarily be reduced by the same figure.

Working with fewer so-called general purpose (GP) dogs would not affect the force's "ability to respond", it said.

The police federation said it was sad to lose any specialist officer who has had money invested in their specialism.

The number of search dogs trained to sniff out explosives, drugs, firearms and cash would not change, the force added.

'Dynamic incidents'

In a statement, dog training manager Insp Russell Evans, said: "We have looked at our operational capability and the resources available to us to respond to dynamic incidents and our use of GP dogs."

Insp Evans added that there were "a number of tactics open" to the force when dealing with incidents.

West Midlands Police Federation chairman Ian Edwards said: "The dog section is one of a number of units which have had substantial cuts, including the traffic unit which now has 115 officers after losing 63 of them.

"The dogs are heavily used for crowd control in public order situations and act as a deterrent and any reduction in their numbers will lead to a reduced capacity to respond to these type of incidents."

Fresh West Midlands Police job cuts condemned by officers

THE latest round of West Midlands Police cuts – which will see 319 posts lost – has been condemned by serving officers.

The force unveiled the plans yesterday after a meeting of the police authority which will see 83 staff made redundant.

The plans for the 2013/14 financial year are part of plans to fill a £126million government funding gap over four years and will save £16million.

Of the 319 posts are made up of 234 staff roles and 85 police officer posts. Of the staff roles, 151 positions are already vacant due to a recruitment freeze and will not be filled.

The force has vowed to try to relocate the 85 officers to other roles.

It comes the year after 20 per cent police funding cuts were blamed on burglaries and robberies rising by almost a quarter in Coventry.

Roles being lost include an 18-strong specialist intelligence team.

The body representing serving cops says this will hit front line policing.

West Midlands Police Federation insist the intelligence staffing loss alone will reduce the force’s surveillance capability by a third.

Deputy secretary Steve Grange said: “Any cuts of 20 per cent are going to have a detrimental effect on our ability to help the public.

“They still expect us to respond to 999 calls and we feel our ability is being significantly reduced.”

The plans identify a fresh round of job cuts as part of a raft of savings needed to reduce £24million from the budget for 2013/14. These savings will contribute £16million towards that target.

It comes after £40million was slashed from the 2011/12 budget and £38million of cuts earmarked for 2012/13. Deputy Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: “We’ll be doing everything possible to support those affected staff to find them other roles within the force.

“We’ve passed the stage where there are perhaps obvious things we can do and delivering further savings is more complicated.”

Departments reviewed by the force included crime, finance, local policing, legal and intelligence.

Police chiefs said 80 per cent of its budget is spent on pay, while 37 per cent of cuts identified come from “non-pay savings”.

It comes after an anonymous city police officer told the Telegraph there will be only two traffic officers patrolling the whole of Coventry and Warwickshire from next month.

Mr Grange added: “They are cutting back office staff but these functions aren’t necessarily being stopped.

“They are still required and are being passed on to others, often previously front line officers.”

Coventry Police to share services with Staffordshire force



PLANS for police in Coventry to share some services with Staffordshire have been approved.

The proposals put forward by West Midlands Police Authority could see the force collaborate with Staffordshire on a variety of functions including road policing, firearms teams and dog support.

They were first suggested in October last year in an effort to cut costs.

At a meeting of the police authority yesterday members backed the plans – also suggesting that the creation of a single forensic service for both forces could be brought forward.

The majority of the changes are expected to be introduced by 2014. A consultation with staff has already taken place.

It is estimated that the changes will save around £700,000.

The report states: “Against increasing financial constraints and reduced central funding there is a need for all forces to maintain current service levels, improve public confidence and demonstrate better use of their resources.

"This collaboration project provides an opportunity to ensure these specialist services are met.”