An extra £8.9m will go into delivering additional officers and strengthening the approach to making West Mercia’s communities safer after the PCC’s budget plans were supported today.
The budget will support the 91 additional officers, as part of the Government uplift, and allow the PCC John Campion to deliver on what the communities have asked for – increased visibility, accessibility and reliability from their police force.
Additional resources will also be placed in key areas of community concern, such as reducing crime, tackling the crime that causes the most harm, reducing the amount of deaths and anti-social behaviour on local roads and ensuring victims have the support when they need it. The PCC will also be working with the force to deliver a community policing charter, which will give reassurance to the public that they will receive what they need and reasonably expect from their police force.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said: “I have, as with previous years, created a budget with our communities in mind. I asked the public to take part in a consultation prior to pulling this budget together with the sole purpose of understanding exactly how they felt and where they would spend the money if they had the choice. The public’s voices were loud and clear in that they want a police force they can rely on, access and see within their community.
“We have faced a challenging year, and the budget has to reflect that, however it also has to deliver a police service that works for our communities. Therefore, this additional funding will go into areas of most concern for communities and 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 scrutinised and approved the Commissioner’s plans at an online meeting today.
Issued on: Thursday 4th February 2021
