An extra £15.6m will go into delivering 125 additional officers and preventing crime after the PCC’s budget plans were passed today.
The budget supports PCC John Campion’s vision to deliver on community priorities – increased visibility and accessibility of their police service. The additional officers, which will bring West Mercia Police’s establishment figure to the highest since 2009, will allow resources to be targeted towards key areas of concern for communities.
The largest share of this year’s investment will go to ensuring victims get the outcomes they deserve and a greater number of offenders are brought to justice. The PCC will be allocating £1 million for prevention services and initiatives to tackle crime at the root cause, as well as strengthening investigations. Additional resources are also earmarked to reducing the environmental impact of policing.
PCC John Campion said: “I have heard loud and clear from our communities what they want from their police service, and that is what will be delivered through my spending proposals. Communities will benefit from 125 additional police officers, and safer neighbourhood teams will have more time to dedicate to the highly visible and accessible local community policing that is so important to people.
“With further investment going into prevention, we can stop crime from happening in the first place – reducing the impact on communities and those at risk of criminality.
“I hear the concerns of the panel members who considered my budget today and I will work to address those. Additional funding will go into areas of most concern for communities and the panel to ensure the force has the resources it needs to deliver a police force the public expects and deserves.”
West Mercia’s Police and Crime Panel considered the PCC’s plans at a meeting today.