The force, who say they are 'committed to a robust crime recording improvement plan' following a critical report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services have challenged key parts of the police watchdog’s assessment.

The HMICFRS Crime Data Integrity report, which was released yesterday, rated West Midlands Police as 'inadequate', based on analysis of crime reports from March to May 2018. It suggests 16,600 violent crimes a year slip through the net as they are not being recorded by officers and call handlers. Speaking about the report Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe said:

"It is frustrating that, despite substantial progress, our grading has remained as inadequate. The report focuses upon crime recorded by the force between March and May 2018 - over seven months ago. The system on which crime is recorded is old and due for replacement later this year. 

“Unfortunately, due to difficulties in extracting accurate data from our old technology, inspectors were not able to validate a much improved overall crime recording accuracy. Despite the limited progress in these areas up to May 2018, we are confident that our current position is much improved.

“We were particularly disappointed to hear that inspectors assessed a decision to not invest additional resources in crime recording teams as a failure to improve. 

“We take very seriously the concerns raised regarding safeguarding and will be addressing these matters as a priority. It is important to understand the context: in many of these cases the missed crime was found when inspectors trawled through case histories and would not have affected an ongoing prosecution or safeguarding.

“We are always looking for ways we can get better and have a robust improvement plan in place."

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, added:

“It is important that victims get the support they need. That’s why I have protected victims’ funding and founded the country’s first victims’ commission to make sure resources are prioritised to the areas that need it most. 

“We are also investing in technology and the force have a plan in place to address this. I support the work West Midlands Police has undertaken on addressing crime data integrity. 

“Of course this comes at a time of unprecedented demand and falling government funding. Myself and West Midlands Police are committed to responding to and preventing violence."