Crime more than doubles in 'wild' West Midlands over decade
Crime has more than doubled in the space of a decade across the "wild" West Midlands with the number of offences soaring to over 350,000, figures show.
Police chiefs revealed in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request crime had increased from the 171,732 recorded in 2012 to 365,539 in 2022 – up 193,807.
The increase has led to criticism of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) role, introduced in 2012, by a former Conservative candidate for the position.
However this has been rejected by the current holder of the role Simon Foster, who pointed the blame at the "reckless financial cuts" from the Government.
Conservative Jay Singh-Sohal, who lost out at the ballot box in 2021, said: "Our region has now become the 'wild' West Midlands after a decade of Labour PCCs 'playing politics' with the role rather than doing the job.
