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Quality of service : our commitment to you
We deal with a wide range of enquiries from the public. Some are straightforward and can be resolved immediately over the telephone, at a police station or through other contact points.
Others need further investigation or the benefit of specialist knowledge or expertise before they can be resolved.
At West Midlands Police, we take pride in providing a high quality of service to you regardless of why or how you have made contact with us. We cannot guarantee that we will always be able to solve every crime or incident that you report to us. However we are committed to providing a service that responds professionally and appropriately to your particular needs. We want you to feel satisfied that we have provided the highest quality of service and that we value you as our customers and take all your concerns seriously.
So what level of service can you expect when you have contact with West Midlands Police?
Making it easy to contact us
We are committed to ensuring that our services are accessible to you and responsive to both your individual and the wider community’s needs. We will ensure that details of how to contact us are widely available.
We will:
- Provide easy access to our services and information
- Provide different ways to access our services that meet a range of needs
- Consult with those who use our services and our communities about what is important to them
- Provide information focused on areas of service that you have told us are important
- Provide the latest statistics about reported crime and anti-social behaviour in your area via www.police.uk
- Widely publicise how you can access police services in your local area
Providing a professional and high quality service
We are committed to responding to your needs by providing you with appropriate help and advice. We will take all your concerns seriously and explain what will be done to address them, including whether or not any further action will be taken and why.
We will:
- Always treat you politely and fairly, with dignity and respect
- Listen and take your concerns seriously and explain what we are doing to address them, including whether or not we are taking action, and why.
Dealing with your enquiry
We will always give priority to emergencies however, whatever the reason is for you making contact with us, we will ensure that we take the appropriate steps to deal with your enquiry as soon as possible.
We will:
- Ensure that we properly understand what you are telling us
- Explain how we are going to deal with your enquiry
- Where your call is an emergency respond within 15 minutes and respond to priority calls within 60 minutes
- Arrange to visit you or make an appointment for you to visit a police clinic or surgery at a time or location of your choice when we need to see you but our response time is not critical
- Make an appointment to see you it will be at a time that fits in with your commitments and within 48 hours if we need to meet with you
- Provide you with a reference number
- Provide specialist knowledge or expertise when needed
- Tell you if there is another organisation that can help you and how to get in touch with them if your enquiry is about something the police cannot deal with
- Provide advice and tell you about the FAQ site www.askthe.police.uk for future reference
Keeping you informed
We recognise the importance of you being kept up to date on the progress of your enquiry.
We will:
- Agree with you at the earliest opportunity how we are going to keep you informed and what happens next
- Discuss with you what options are available to deal with the matter and involve you in the decision making
- Tell you if someone is arrested for an offence
- Tell you if a suspect is charged and give you details of what happens in court
- Tell you when our enquiries are complete
Ensuring your voice counts
There are a number of ways you can have a say in how your local area is policed. We want to work with you to tackle crime and disorder and you can play an active role in tackling these problems.
We will:
- Provide a range of ways in which you can let us know your views about your local priorities
- Listen to what you have to say to help us improve the service we provide
- Respond to you in writing within 10 days when requested
- Publicise widely a range of ways to obtain your feedback
- Publish regular updates about what is being done to improve services.
- Use this information to develop improved policy and practice
Victims of Crime
If you are in contact with us because you have been a victim of crime we understand this can be a very distressing experience which can affect people in a variety of ways. We will comply with the specific commitments under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime.
We will:
- Identify and support vulnerable victims and children
- Discuss with you how we are going to deal with any suspect(s) including the options to deal with your crime dependent on the circumstances, from local community resolution through to court proceedings
- We will comply with the specific commitments under the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims)
- Provide details to Victim Support services unless you ask us not to once you have reported your crime
- Assign a family liaison officer to families of victims of murder, manslaughter or fatal road accident
- Provide you with updates at regular intervals during our investigation into your case. We will inform you when a suspect has been arrested, charged, bailed and notify you of their bail conditions
We issue victims of crime with a contact card which provides you with a reference number and lets you know what to expect next. For a PDF copy of the contact card, please click here.
Listening and responding to your concerns and complaints
We aim to provide you with a professional service. If you feel that a member of staff has behaved incorrectly or unfairly, you have the right to make a complaint. If you feel that we have failed to deliver on aspects of our commitment, we will give you an opportunity to talk to someone about your concerns and agree a course of action to try and solve your problem
We will:
- Record, investigate and respond to you appropriately
- Be open and transparent and demonstrate our accountability
- Use what you tell us to improve our service
- Wherever possible, and with your agreement, resolve your concerns or complaints locally and as soon as possible
- Increase public confidence in our ability to deal effectively with your concerns
- Adhere to the values and guidance of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). (The IPCC is an organisation that has overall responsibility for the system of complaints made against the police in cases of misconduct.)
Freedom of Information
We are committed to complying with the data protection and Freedom of Information legislation.
We will:
- Respond to any appropriate request for personal information within 40 calendar days (Data Protection Act)
- Respond to any request for any other information within 20 working days (Freedom of Information Act)
- Ensure that any information on our website is accurate and kept under review
CONTACT US
There are a number of ways you can contact us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
By telephone
In an emergency -if life is in danger or a crime is in progress call 999
For all other enquiries – dial our non-emergency number call 101
For people with hearing difficulties or speech impairments call Minicom: 0121 626 4114
If you have information about a crime:
Report anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers - 0800 555 111
On our website
Click here and enter your postcode to find details of your local neighbourhood officers and what is happening in your area. You can also find the dates and locations of future neighbourhood meetings and information about local policing priorities
At the police station
Details of all of our police station opening times can be found on our website or by telephoning 101
Police surgeries
Details of when and where your local neighbourhood team are holding surgeries can be found on our website or by telephoning 101
E-Mail us at contactus@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk
