Federation happy to work with whoever gets responsibility for policing in the area

13 December 2023

Branch chair Rich Cooke says West Midlands Police Federation will work with whoever has responsibility for policing in the Force area.

Home Secretary James Cleverly has agreed to West Midlands Mayor Andy Street’s request that the powers of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) should be transferred from the PCC to whoever wins the mayoral election on 2 May 2024.

Rich said the Federation did not favour either system of oversight - a PCC or a metro mayor - and would prefer a return to one that was more reflective of the communities the Force served.

He said: “We work in good will and with good faith, and we’ll work with whoever is there, because we want to do the best for the people of the West Midlands.

West Midlands mayor Andy Street.

“In terms of the transfer of powers, we don’t favour a metro mayor running policing and we don’t favour a commissioner.

“We think it’s damaging to the police to have a system with a partisan figure holding the police accountable.

“Whichever party they’re from, Labour, Conservative or any other, they’re always going to have a partisan label.

“We police by consent and there’s the risk it skews what we do towards a particular party which is in power at that time.”

Rich added: “Under the police authority, while the make up might have reflected that we were in a Conservative or Labour period, there was still a cross section of councillors.

“It was inclusive of the range of opinions in the communities we serve, so they held us to account as a collective.

“It wasn’t perfect but, to me, it was better than what we have now.

“Policing is too important to be left to a powerful figure to use as their football.”

Rich said one example of that politicisation was the fact the person who holds West Midlands Police to account - be that the PCC or the mayor - “has the power to hire or fire a chief constable”.

“That inevitably has an effect on the chief constables,” he said. “The chief constables should be purely operational and doing what’s best based on operational matters.

“Are they going to be as ready to do that if they know their job is dependant on the patronage of a partisan commissioner or metro mayor?”

He added: “We feel it’s better, without the risk of politicisation, if you have a more inclusive system.”