North Solihull councillor calls for more police on the beat.

A LOCAL councillor has made a passionate plea for more police to be put back on the beat in North Solihull.
Councillor Flo Nash (Lab, Kingshurst & Fordbridge) said that repeated claims that crime is falling did not change the fact that people were concerned about a reduced police presence on the streets.
She put the concerns of local residents to the Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, at this month’s Full Council meeting.
The debate proved timely as research by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) - published today -  found that frontline officers are spending as little as half their time pounding the streets.
“Over the last three days I have heard of terrible crimes that have been committed in the north of the borough. People want reassuring,” said Coun Nash.
“We just think we are being let down a bit when we hear that crime is going down.
“What do you mean by crime rate, are you including the local – what you might call petty – crimes, or is it crime generally?”
She cited the case of an elderly lady who was attacked at a bus stop in broad daylight and a young man who was robbed of his mobile phone while coming home from work.
Mr Jamieson, who had acknowledged earlier in the meeting that the force was facing significant financial pressures, argued that putting police on the beat wasn’t always the most effective use of resources. He said that it made more sense to target specific problems as they arose.
“If we deployed all of our officers on the streets doing beat walking I can tell you this – we’d hardly solve a crime…The police officers walking around the streets of Kingshurst or Chelmsley or Shirley don’t come across crimes. That’s not the way it works.
“We’re having to work with much tighter budgets, the number of officers we’ve got is far slimmer than it was before and we have to make the best use of resources.”
Mr Jamieson, who has previously served as a councillor in the same ward as Coun Nash, also answered members’ questions on gun crime, drug addiction and the ongoing problem of off-road bikes.
Coun Chris Williams (Green, Chelmsley Wood) told the Commissioner that addressing the fear of crime should be one of the main priorities.
“Seventy per cent of people in Chelmsley Wood are afraid to leave their homes after dark – just 10 per cent in Dorridge,” he said.