Communities across West Mercia will benefit from an extra £13m for policing, which will recruit an additional 115 police officers, after John Campion’s budget plans were confirmed today.
The significant uplift in police officers will take the West Mercia force to its highest number since 2012. There is also extra money for rural crime, CCTV, road safety and crime prevention initiatives.
John Campion said: “I promised I would ensure our police force has the resources needed to keep our communities safe. My budget provides the resources that the Chief Constable has told me he needs to deliver key service improvements around officer visibility and accessibility, emergency response times and victim satisfaction. I will continue to both hold the force to account, and support them, to ensure those improvements are delivered.”
“I also promised I would listen and respond to community voices as Commissioner. This budget shows how I am delivering on that promise. Our communities have consistently said they want more police, more visible, and more effective measures to tackle crime. That is what my budget delivers”.
“I will work tirelessly to ensure these extra resources deliver the best value and return on investment for our communities, and help build a safer West Mercia”.
West Mercia’s Police and Crime Panel scrutinised and approved the Commissioner’s plans at a meeting earlier (February 7th, 2019)