Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster has today hailed the launch of the next phase of West Midlands Police’s pioneering drive to bring down crime and improve the quality of life for communities in the West Midlands – with Birmingham city centre now benefitting from the focus of Operation Fearless.
The PCC has funded Operation Fearless to the tune of almost £1 million and a team of 20 Fearless officers got to work in the Southside area of the city centre yesterday, including The Arcadian, the Chinese Quarter, The Gay Village and the area surrounding Grand Central.
The team wasted no time, with four men who were wanted for recall to prison, and another for failing to appear at court, being arrested within hours of the operation’s launch.
It’s the next chapter in the Operation Fearless story, which launched in Erdington in January, thanks to £880,000 funding from the PCC, who is using money seized from criminals.
It has had a massive impact on the area, with residents and visitors telling how much of a difference the high visibility patrols have made.
A team of 20 Fearless officers got to work in the Southside area of the city centre yesterday.
Fearless sees the force work with partners including Birmingham City Council, Transport for West Midlands, immigration officials, business improvement districts and others to drive down crime and improve the quality of life.
While Fearless has now shifted its focus to Southside, a new High Street team for Erdington is continuing the good work there.
The force has chosen Southside as its next focus area as people who live, work and visit the area tell the force that more needs to be done to tackle:
- Drugs
- Anti-social behaviour
- Retail crime
- Robbery
- Violence
- Exploitation and money laundering
The Fearless team is based at Digbeth and will work side by side with the existing city centre team and partners including Southside BID, retailers, British Transport Police and more.
Over the coming months, people living, working and visiting Southside will see the increased high visibility presence as officers on the street.
They will be identifying those involved in drugs, retail crime, robbery and more and proactively making arrests, while working with partners to get vulnerable people the support they need.
There will also be plain clothes deployments to seek out criminals, with officers trained in spotting suspicious behaviour at an early stage.
They will be building intelligence on criminals who travel into the city centre to commit crime and carrying out warrants wherever they may live make the city centre a better place.
Fearless uses a wide range of police resources and works with partners to drive down crime, and improve the quality of life for communities
The Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said: “It’s pleasing to see the positive difference my investment in policing is making to areas like Erdington and beyond.
“My top priority is preventing and tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, promoting community safety and driving real change.
“The action taking place, as a consequence of Fearless, is keeping people, families, businesses and communities safe and secure.
“The latest expansion is good news and I am looking forward to seeing an impact, that will improve the quality of life for people living, working and visiting the Southside area of the city centre.”
Chief Constable Craig Guildford added: “We are committed to local policing and putting officers out on the streets, making arrests and tackling the problems that matter most to people.
“Fearless has had a fantastic impact in Erdington, and people can expect that dedicated approach to be a big success in the city centre as well.”
Det Supt Jim Munro, who leads Fearless, says: “The Fearless team has had a massive impact on Erdington, but we’re not stopping there and are keeping our momentum as we now work on making the city centre a more inviting and safer place for everyone.
“The city centre needs to be a welcoming place for everyone – whether they’re visiting for the day by train, or if it’s where they live or work. We know that sometimes that’s not the case, and we’ll be working flat out over the coming months to make that a reality.
“Fearless is about much more than policing though, and we’ll be working with partners such as British Transport Police to improve the area around Grand Central, and the local authority on issues such as drug abuse and homelessness.
“We’ll be staying for as long as we’re needed to have a real and lasting impact on the area, and the team are looking forward to meeting and working with people across Southside over the coming months.”
Over the coming months, people living, working and visiting Southside will see the increased high visibility presence as officers on the street.
Pam Powis, from Birmingham City Council’s Community Safety Team, said: “We are excited to be part of Op Fearless within Southside following the great success of Erdington High Street.
“This partnership approach is a proven way of working within neighbourhoods and shows communities that we are listening, and problem solving together to prevent and reduce crime and ASB and improve trust and confidence. We are proud to be part of Op Fearless.”
Julia Robinson, from Southside Business Improvement District (BID), said: “We are proud to work alongside our police partners to reduce crime and ASB. Operation Fearless is a great example of how police work with other agencies like ours to target offenders and build public confidence. We look forward to the positive results.”
Kerry Blakeman, head of security and policing at Transport for West Midlands, said: “The Safer Travel Partnership comprising dedicated resources from West Midlands Police, British Transport Police and Transport for West Midlands will be supporting Operation Fearless policing operations in the vicinity of Grand Central.
“As a major transport interchange with bus, rail and tram serving the area we’re looking forward to supporting the operation.”
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