The West Midlands will see police officers being equipped with handheld scanners to undertake stop and search, under plans revealed by the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidate Jay Singh-Sohal.
The announcement is one of a number of robust and proactive measures being proposed by the candidate in this May’s PCC election. It comes as communities affected by rising knife crime demand action to tackle the problem.
Now, Jay Singh-Sohal says he will introduce more robust measures to tackle rising knife crime, if he is elected PCC in May 2021.
His plan includes:
● Introducing airport-style hand-held scanners for officers to conduct stop and search in a
less invasive manner:
● Ensuring more use of S60 powers (stop and search), with authority delegated down to
local commanders to be able to react quickly to local intelligence and community
concerns.
● Increasing community engagement and better communications within our diverse
region, to proactively share information with those affected by crime in order to build
trust and understanding about police activity.
● Recruiting a new generation of Special Constables drawn from underrepresented black
and Asian communities, to help tackle gang violence
● Increasing partnership working through the VRU, particularly with the Mayor's office, to
fund grassroots organisations offering diversionary activities for young people as well as
introduce workshops within schools
Jay Singh-Sohal says: “We can no longer afford to be soft on those who carry weapons. I’ve been listening and seeing the effect rising violent crime has in our communities and on our young people. They demand a robust and proactive response from a PCC who is attuned to the needs of our residents as well as how through innovative methods the police can be more effective. I’m drawing from my Army experience to offer solutions and not excuses. ‘Stop and search’ is an important tool for getting weapons off our streets, and I’ll be working with our communities and empowering our police with a raft of measures to ensure we get crime down.”
Analysis of crime figures show that under a Labour PCC, the past five years have seen violent crime gone up by 170% and knife crime is increasing at a higher rate than in London.
Total recorded crime has also increased by 33% over the past five years under a Labour PCC, from 242,553 cases in 2015 to 322,797 in 2020.
A comparison of total recorded crimes in 2019 and 2020 show violence is up 26% while weapons possession up 8%
In response, the government has given the region a second year of budget increases in the 2021/2 funding settlement boosting the West Midlands Police to £655m a year. This was an increase of £35.9m from the previous year and the second highest in England after London.
On top of this, the Home Secretary Priti Patel recently announced £3.37m for the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit.
A petition launched by Jay on www.GetCrimeDown.co.uk is encouraging residents to pledge their support for his plan.