West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner meets with Fed members

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster spoke to a meeting of the West Mids District of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) in Walsall on Wednesday 14th January where he discussed ongoing work to tackle retail crime locally and further afield.

During his address he acknowledged that retail crime remains a “continual challenge” but he was committed to “partnership work” as part of his approach to retail crime which is a priority area identified in the 2025-2029 Police and Crime Plan along with a wider enhancement in Community Policing.

Mr. Foster’s approach to Community Policing includes additional recruitment of 150 neighbourhood police and 20 PCSOs in recent years, though he was critical of the overall Police Funding Formula which he felt left more urban areas less resourced than more sparsely populated counties.

As well as acknowledging the desire for partnership working with regional stakeholders like Fed members, Mr Foster also spoke of his work at the national level and said he was pleased to hear of December’s meeting between the Fed’s National President Hetal Patel and Crime & Policing Minister Sarah Jones MP. In terms of Partnership working Mr Foster also spoke of work on Operation Pegasus and Opal to tackle retail crime at a national level and the importance of partnerships for rehabilitation for certain offenders to prevent retail crime because of the close link between drug addiction and shop theft.

Mr Foster responded to a variety of questions about prospects for improvements in the future, with Vice President Serge Khunkhun asking about how resources will be brought to the frontline and other questions about crime reporting, adequate judicial deterrents and possible security training and advice for independent shops.

District President Amy Sohal commented on the event saying: “I was really pleased that the West Mids PCC came to join us and giving this useful update. Mr. Foster promised to work closely with us on an ongoing basis and we invited him to update us further in a meeting this time next year.”

Mr Foster said: “It was exceedingly useful for me to meet with the Fed as retail crime is an area of great importance for me as identified in the West Midlands Police and Crime Plan – and because of all the social and economic disruption this crime causes. I look forward to meeting with Fed members again.”