Extra funding for West Midlands Police to tackle serious violence
West Midlands Police is to receive £7.62 million from the Home Office as part of a national fund to tackle serious violence.
The Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that £12.4 million will be distributed to 18 forces dealing with high levels of violent crime, including West Midlands Police.
£5 million was announced for the forces before Easter for additional officer deployments.
Further £12.4 million of £100 million fund to be allocated to 18 police forces across the country
West Midlands Police to receive £7.62 million from £100 million Serious Violence Fund
The funding comes ahead of a PM-chaired ministerial meeting in Downing Street on the government’s response to tackling serious youthviolence
Home Secretary, Sajid Javid said: “I’ve been doing everything in my power to ensure we have the strongest possible response to tackle violent crime - and law enforcement plays a key role in this.
“It takes a collective effort to tackle violent crime and I’ll continue to work closely with police and partners to end this senseless bloodshed.”
The £100 million Serious Violence Fund was announced by the government in the March Spring Statement.
West Midlands Police will also receive £568.8 million as a result of the Police Funding Settlement for 2019/20.
The increase means the force’s plans to recruit an additional 200 officers to tackle violent crime.
West Midlands Police Chief Constable Dave Thompson, said: “We welcome this additional funding.
"This is a short-term investment that will be targeted specifically at helping us tackle serious violence in the West Midlands, in particular the upturn in knife crime we’ve witnessed in recent months.
“I look forward to working with the Home Office to iron out a longer-term financial settlement for the force that will help us keep the public safe and pursue those that pose the most serious risk to our communities.”