Poll: Do you have confidence in the police to properly investigate crime?

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner Bill Longmore was speaking after a report published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

The watchdog claimed forces were "decriminalising" some offences and expressed fears police were giving up investigating some crimes.

It said in some cases the public were being asked to turn detective and look for CCTV and fingerprint evidence themselves before officers would come out to see them.

The report also found some victims were being asked to interview neighbours or even check second-hand websites to see whether their stolen property had been listed for sale.

Mr Longmore, speaking exclusively to the Shropshire Star, said: "Everything is not perfect, we do receive one or two letters from members of the public in respect of police officers not attending. I have had recently to go out to see someone in Church Stretton to reassure them.

"But in relation to crime the force records 100 per cent of all crimes reported.

"They go through to our control centre and then through to what is known as the crime bureau.

"We ask the victim a series of questions in relation to the crime that has been reported.

"With some of these crimes there is clearly no means of investigation at that time. Some are reported and no further action is required at that time. The victim is always told that is the case and in most cases they are happy with that. It might be because there is no CCTV, no witnesses, no chance of any forensic evidence.

"It would be situations where we would actually be wasting resources to send someone along.

"We are also aware that some people who have rung the police expect a visit, particularly people who are vulnerable. If they need a visit we will send a police officer.

"To say we are not investigating certain crimes is very far from the truth. As soon as a crime is recorded and reported there is an investigation taking place."

He said: "All of our officers are briefed on a daily basis and reports of crimes committed in their neighbourhoods are passed on to them.

"We encourage PCs and PCSOs, while they are out on patrol, to have a knock on the door of people who have reported crimes to us and have a chat with them.

"We are arresting suspects on a daily basis and in some cases we can then link them back to previous offences and cases that have been reported to us.

"On a daily basis our officers are carrying out checks with scrap merchant dealers, jewellers, pawnbrokers and the like with the aim of recovering stolen property," he added.

Some police forces provided data to HMIC about the number of calls received and how many reported crimes resulted in a visit from a police officer.

But Chief Superintendent Amanda Blakeman, of West Mercia Police, said the force was not able to supply such data because it did not exist in one recording system.

But she added: "We can say that we record 100 per cent of crimes.

"Through our control centre and crime bureau we take time to establish what the situation is and what the caller requires, and then decide if a visit is necessary to secure and preserve evidence having undertaken a full assessment of the level of threat, harm or risk.

"When we ask our communities, our confidence and satisfaction rates are very high and in West Mercia, crime and therefore the number of victims of crime, is reducing year on year."

Earlier this week Home Secretary Theresa May called for police, ambulance and fire services in England and Wales to be "integrated" to save money. She said in future emergency services could share "back office functions" and be located on the same site.

She added that there was a "still-large deficit" and as a result further cuts to emergency services were needed.

Mr Longmore said he was "completely in agreement" and revealed talks had begun with Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service.

"We are committed to working together wherever possible and the possibility of sharing services and buildings is something that we are discussing," he said.

"A good example is Bromsgrove, where the new station there is the first one in the country which has been built specifically to house both police and fire services."

The police chief has come under fire from councillors for his decision to close public counters at police stations in Bridgnorth, Church Stretton, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Wem, Wellington and Whitchurch.

A motion is set to be discussed by Wellington Town Council next week which will urge the commissioner to rethink the cost-cutting plans and restore the service.

But Mr Longmore said that would not happen and police were already looking at other ways to engage with the public.

"As I have already said, only 34 people on average visit Wellington police station every day," he said.

"We cannot justify having somebody sitting there for quite a few hours every day, just waiting for somebody to come in.

"However, I do strongly believe in the importance of the police having a good liaison and rapport with the public and we obviously have to look at other ways we can do that.

"We have seen a big improvement in getting our officers out onto the beat."

He added he had suggested holding surgeries, arranging a date and time for people to go and speak to an officer.

"So I can't say we are going to reopen them. But what I can say is we are exploring other ways of communicating with the public which will hopefully be more effective."

• What do you think? Vote in our poll and have your say in the comments box below.