Edgbaston MP outspoken in favour of neighbourhood police

Labour MP, Preet Gill, votes in favour of more neighbourhood policing in Parliament debate on January 31, 2023.

In an interview with Free Radio on February 27, 2023, Preet Gill said: “There’s been new analysis from Labour which has shown that there are huge significant reductions in staffing for our neighbourhood policing, especially here across the West Midlands.”

According to the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Report, published on January 24, 2023, the West Midlands had a total of 2,283 neighbourhood officers.

Gill has called for an extra 15-20 police officers for every constituent, insisting the presence of the police can further ensure public safety.

The Labour MP for Edgbaston said: “Our neighbourhood policing has been pretty much decimated.

“Especially for the West Midlands, we’ve seen a 71% increase in reported robbery since 2015. I suppose the most worrying thing is that knife crime here in the West Midlands stands at the highest rate outside of London.”

Credit: @PreetGillMP Twitter, posted 03.05.23.

According to the Office for National Statistics, published in January 2023, the West Midlands saw an increase of 38% in knife-related offences, compared to statistics during the pandemic.

Birmingham is currently the most dangerous city in the West Midlands, with there being 145 crimes per 1,000 people, according to Crime Rate, giving the city a 48% higher crime rate than regional average. The most common crimes in Birmingham are violence and sexual offences.

Gill has been a longstanding advocate for putting funding back into the police force, being very outspoken on her social media regularly.

In an interview with the BBC on 4 January, 2023, Simon Foster, Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “We need constant and unremitting action to prevent and tackle violence.”

His scheme proposes to put 450 new neighbourhood police officers back into the West Midlands’ communities to combat rising crime levels.