West Midlands sees rise in officer numbers but resource challenges persist
Police boost aims to strengthen neighbourhood policing across the region
Police bosses in the West Midlands say resources remain “challenged” despite an increase in the number of officers on the force.
Latest data shows the region had a police officer headcount of 8,266 in March this year, an increase from the 8,102 in April 2024.
The number of PCSOs has also been maintained with 314 recorded in March 2026 – a slight increase from the 310 two years prior.
West Midlands Police’s Acting Chief Constable Scott Green said he believed they were providing a good service but were still having to cover three million people, adding crime numbers couldn’t continue to “fall forever”.
In 2025, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster announced he had been successful in securing Home Office funding under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to pay for 150 new officers.
And he told an Accountability and Governance Board that rebuilding community policing remained a top priority for him.
Mr Foster said: “Although we’ve seen police officer numbers increase and PSCO numbers remain broadly static, how confident can we be that neighbourhood policing in terms of capacity and visibility are improving consistently across all local areas, particularly within the highest demand communities?”
ACC Green said: “We still police almost three million people with 8,266 police officers which is a lot.
“We are challenged financially in terms of the resources available to us.
“We do believe we are offering a really good service to the public but crime can’t continue to fall forever. We may well find some of those crimes start plateauing.”
He added it was important for them to maintain the high standards they have so far in the service.
And he added the investment in neighbourhood policing has enabled them to put resources across the seven local authority areas.
He said: “One of the things we’ve been consistent on is to try to give chief superintendent of local policing authorities the autonomy to operate within defined guard rails.
“Our expectation is they will stick to those minimum standards but where there are areas the local command team think that more investment from neighbourhood policing is needed, we’ve given them the freedom to do so.
“It is our continued ambition to invest in neighbourhood policing.”