The main aim of West Midlands Police is to serve our communities and protect them from harm.
The main headquarters for Dudley Local Policing Unit is on Bank Street, Brierley Hill where there is a 24 hour front office. The front office’s at our sub stations; Dudley, Stourbridge and Halesowen are open from 10 to 6pm daily. (Proposed times subject to further community consultations).
Dudley police is split into four sectors, Dudley North, Dudley South, Stourbridge and Halesowen, with a total of 24 neighbourhood teams, each of these neighbourhood teams has a dedicated sergeant, police officers, volunteer special constables and also numerous police community support officers, who specifically work to address the needs and concerns of people living across the Dudley borough.
Common Purpose with LSPs
- The Police cannot reduce crime single handed. Local partners can contribute in a wide range of ways.
- Police authorities are obliged by statute to consult the local community, and many show innovative outreach to hard to reach groups of people.
- The Police role in tackling neighbourhood crime is most relevant to LSPs. The Police are key partners with seats on the DCP board, heavily involved in Safe and Sound Partnership and contributing to other thematic partnerships.
- Police performance indicators include measures relating to community safety, crime reduction, reducing anti social behaviour, tackling drugs, and community engagement which all are also of value to the LSP.
- The police are committed to working with all partners to co-ordinate call handling procedures to provide the best possible service to the public. Dudley is the best performing borough in the West Midlands Police area in respect of call handling, and West Midlands Police are rated in the top three in the Country.
Drivers
The strategies and policies of the police and the Safe and Sound Partnership within the LSP are all driven and informed by the National Policing plan, The Police Authority Policing Plan for the West Midlands and the Local Policing Plan, as well as the Audit to Strategy process driven by consultation with our community.
The West Midlands Police Force agrees its own regional targets with central government, and targets are agreed at Policing Unit, sector and ultimately beat levels. There are targets to increase the visibility, accessibility and accountability of officers at neighbourhood level.
Inspection and examination of police forces is carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), taking into consideration performance against targets for policing, local objectives, and other priorities identified by the Home Office or HMIC.
Benefits and Constraints from LSP Engagement
Benefits
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By concentrating on closing the gap in the incidence of crime between our most affluent and most deprived neighbourhoods, we will naturally focus on the root causes of that crime.
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In many types of crime, the victims and offenders live predominantly within our most deprived areas.
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To maximize the reduction of crime and disorder all the actions within Partnerships within the LSP must be informed by the others. The co-ordination and effective and efficient use of the scarce resources within the Police, the Local Authority, the Health Service, the Fire Service, the National Offender Management Service and the Voluntary Community & Faith sector is vital.
Constraints
Police involvement in Community Safety Partnerships is a statutory requirement whereas there is an “expectation” of wider involvement in LSPs, rather than a statutory duty. Police availability to respond to calls from the public 24 hours a day place a great demand for police resources, often for non-policing matters. The partnership problem solving to resolve casual factors in crime and anti-social behaviour will remove the constraints on policing.
Relationship with other Partnerships
The Police have proactive links with many local partnerships, in particular:
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Safe and Sound (Community Safety Partnership)
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Community Legal Services Partnership
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Children and Young People’s Partnership
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Prolific and Other Priority Offender Scheme
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Local Criminal Justice Board
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Youth Offending Service
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Domestic Violence partnerships
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Community Cohesion initiatives
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Children’s Fund
More Information
To find out more about your local neighbourhood team and what the current neighbourhood priorities are for your area visit the Dudley police website at www.dudleypolice.org.uk you will also be able to find out latest news for the area and the West Midlands Police force area.
Dudley police are also interactive on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dudleypolice , Twitter, www.twitter.com/dudleypolice and YouTube, www.youtube.com/dudleywmpolice
Home Officehttp://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/
HM Inspectorate of Constabularyhttp://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmic/
