Commissioner Bill Longmore celebrates six months in office

During this time, the Commissioner has successfully launched his Police and Crime Plan which outlines his priorities for local policing and community safety over the next four years, as well as setting a budget for the force and freezing the policing element of the Council Tax.

Just a week after taking up office, Mr Longmore gave his full support to the alliance between West Mercia and Warwickshire police forces.

At the time he said: “The plans in place to deliver high quality, value for money policing services to communities in Warwickshire and West Mercia are extremely well considered. Having met with both Chief Constables and reviewed the alliance blueprint I have every confidence that both forces will achieve the cost reductions required and the alliance will increase resilience in critical areas of service delivery. This will result in the more efficient delivery of policing to communities.”

Since his election in November 2012 Mr Longmore and his Deputy Barrie Sheldon have visited over 300 individuals and community groups to learn about their local policing needs and explore opportunities for closer working in the future.

Keen to continue this work he is currently looking to establish a scheme of Community Ambassadors to improve engagement across the area.

He said: “Right from the very start I vowed that I would not be a faceless man sitting in an office, but out listening to the community.”

“West Mercia covers an extensive geographic area of 2,868 square miles and has a population of over 1.2 million people. Since November we have travelled widely and while this has enabled us to make contact with a variety of communities and organisations, we recognise that, to sustain and develop links and continue talking to local people, help is needed.

“A real highlight of my first six months in office has been meeting people and organisations, as well as seeing the fascinating work done by officers and staff in West Mercia Police. I have been immensely impressed by their dedication and commitment to the task of helping to build a safer West Mercia. Also I am pleased to see that this is complemented by a real appetite from the voluntary sector to support community safety and work in new and innovative ways with criminal justice colleagues.

“It has been a whirlwind of activity and so much has been achieved. I look forward to continuing to listen and work with people and organisations to build a safer society for the people of West Mercia.”

In March 2013 Mr Longmore launched his private fund where charities and other groups are encouraged to bid for a share of £20,000 of his own money.

His private fund is open to those organisations in the West Mercia area that help fight crime and support victims of crime. It can be used for anything from setting up diversionary schemes for young people to helping established organisations to expand their activities to improve community life.

To date around £4,000 has been awarded to 14 worthwhile community groups and organisations.

The money is on top of the £2 million a year set aside as part of the West Mercia Commissioner's Grant Scheme to contribute to crime and disorder reduction or deliver the police and crime plan, which will be sustained throughout Mr Longmore’s time in office.