Our local force, the West Midlands Police is 50 years old in 2024, and we’re celebrating our 41st birthday in the same year. The WMP was formed in 1974 and brought together six smaller regional forces under one name; now with the new local policing model they’re returning to their roots of community based policing.
The forces that united into the WMP were Birmingham City Police, West Midlands Constabulary, parts of Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary, plus some areas of Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary and West Mercia Constabulary. These component parts were brought together by the drawing of the boundary lines of the new West Midlands metropolitan county. Sir Derrick Capper was the last Chief Constable of Birmingham City Police, and also headed up the new force. Craig Guildford now holds that position.
In the last half century the force has gone through many changes as a result of new legislation, changing security threats and some controversies, including the convictions of the Birmingham Six. The force has managed to move past these times and is now focused on community policing, building better relationships with the people it serves, and providing better reporting routes for citizens.
Staff numbers have fluctuated over the years too, with 2018 seeing a low point in numbers of serving officers. Changes to retirement ages, introduced to cut spending in 2015 contributed, as well as recruitment issues and the training periods for new officers. Numbers have recovered since then and the force has drastically improved response times, as well as slashing the rates of some forms of crime.
Seven officers were killed in the line of duty in the past 50 years. PC David Christopher Green (1975), PC Andrew Stephen Le Comte and PC Colin John Hall (1984), PC Gavin Richard Carlton (1988), PC Anthony John Salt (1989), PC Malcolm Edward Walker (2001) and DC Michael Swindells (2004) are all commemorated by the Police Memorial Trust.
In 1966, PC Gordon Law, then of Birmingham City Police, was the last officer to work in the West Midlands Police to use their whistle to summon help. PC Law was challenging four thieves, stealing lead from a roof, when he was stabbed from behind by one of the culprits. Without the two-way radio, body camera and emergency button that the modern officers are equipped with, he had nothing but his whistle to summon help. Luckily, nearby residents heard the whistle and investigated, saving Gordon’s life. He was paralysed in the attack but remained part of the force in administrative and standards roles.
This is just one of the stories the force is telling as part of the celebrations of 50 years of policing the West Midlands. You can read more on their website and find out how things have changed in the last half century.
P&R Alarms was established in 1983, at a time of great development in the security industry. Two bodies, the BSIA (British Security Industry Association) and the NSCIA (National Supervision Council for Intruder Alarms) were in talks about the future of the regulatory bodies, which eventually became NACOSS in 1991. NACOSS is now the NSI (National Security Inspectorate), who have bestowed gold standard upon us.
As long established experts in the security industry, we are proud to work closely with West Midlands Police to keep our streets and citizens safe for all of us for the next 50 years and beyond.