150 guns taken off streets in West Midlands as police crackdown on serious crime
The Major Crime Unit at West Midlands Police is solely focussed on putting pressure on serious and organised crime.
More than 150 guns have been taken of West Midlands streets and dozens or serious and organised criminals put behind bars in the first year of the Major Crime Unit.
Shootings have also fallen by more than 25%. Last year, there were 92 firearms discharges, compared to 126 the previous year and 161 the year before that.
Det Supt Scott Griffiths, who oversees the teams, said: “We’ve had a really successful year of targeting serious and organised crime in the West Midlands.
“We’ve uncovered criminal gangs through our proactive work to seek out those who use violence and intimidation, and when we’ve had major incidents that have resulted in people being seriously injured n the streets of the West Midlands, we’ve acted swiftly and decisively to investigate and put those responsible behind bars for years to come.
The unit is split into two teams: reactive and proactive.
Proactive teams gather and develop intelligence to arrest those involved in serious crime and put cases together help put them behind bars.
Reactive teams are ready to act whenever a major incident happens that requires specialist staff.
One of the six reactive teams alone charged more than 50 people in the last year, including 21 for attempted murder.
Det Supt Scott Griffiths continued: “The new way of working which came into place at the start of last year means we’ve got dedicated resources to quickly review CCTV, mobile phone and forensic evidence.
“But we’re also working really closely with local policing areas to understand the community impact and gather information and intelligence.”
The Major Crime Unit also launches manhunts. It sees officers form a 24/7 specialist unit, using a range of overt and covert tactics to bring the suspect in as quickly and safely as possible.
In the last year, they’ve carried out 71 manhunts. All of the suspects were found, 44 of whom were wanted for murder.
Their work has already seen the arrest of 73 predatory sexual offenders, caught as a result of undercover work online by officers.
More than £900,000 has been recovered through the courts and through seizures. Half of that money will be returned to West Midlands Police to invest in making communities safer.