West Midlands Police

West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police
	Logo
Abbreviation	WMP
Agency overview
Formed	1 April 1974; 50 years ago
Preceding agencies	Birmingham City Police; West Midlands Constabulary; Parts of Staffordshire County and Stoke-on-Trent Constabulary, Warwickshire and Coventry Constabulary and West Mercia Constabulary;
Annual budget	£655.6 million (2021/22)
Legal personality	Police force
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	West Midlands, United Kingdom
	Jurisdictional area shown within England
Size	348 square miles (900 km2)
Population	2.93 million
Legal jurisdiction	England & Wales
Constituting instrument	Police Act 1996;
General nature	Local civilian police;
Operational structure
Overseen by	His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services; Independent Office for Police Conduct;
Headquarters	Birmingham; 52°29′01″N 1°53′50″W / 52.48361°N 1.89722°W
Constables	6,846 police officers; 219 special constables;
PCSOs	484
Police and Crime Commissioner responsible	Simon Foster;
Agency executive	Craig Guildford, Chief Constable;
Parent agency	Home Office
Local Policing Area’s	8
Facilities
Stations	52
Website
	www.west-midlands.police.uk

West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.

The force covers an area of 348 square miles (900 km²) with 2.93 million inhabitants,^[2] which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country. In 2020, there were 6,846 officers, 484 police community support officers (PCSO), and 219 volunteer special constables.^[4]

The force is led by Chief Constable Craig Guildford. The force area is divided into ten Local Policing Units (LPUs), each being served by four core policing teams – Response, Neighbourhood, Investigation and Community Action & Priority (CAPT) – with the support of a number of specialist crime teams. These specialist teams include CID, traffic and a firearms unit.

West Midlands Police is a partner, alongside Staffordshire Police, in the Central Motorway Police Group. The force is party to a number of other resource sharing agreements including the National Police Air Service.

^ Parkes, Thomas (17 December 2020). "West Midlands Police in line to receive extra £36 million but chief warns settlement isn't enough". Express & Star.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference hmicfrsoverview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Maps". West Midlands Police. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Cite error: The named reference stats2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Total number of police stations listed under each LPU, does not include facilities buildings such as the helicopter base, Fleet Services garages etc.