Community Resolutions

Community resolutions put the public at the heart of what we do and enable Wolverhampton police officers to apply common sense solutions to incidents of low level crime.

They put the needs of victims first, by asking people what outcome they would like to see. This can include a simple apology, offer of compensation or undertaking to clear up any graffiti or criminal damage and enables the public to become part of the solution.

Community resolutions mean that children and adults who have no previous convictions and make one stupid mistake do not need to be unnecessarily criminalised. It also frees up officers’ time, which can be devoted to higher level crime.

Some local examples of Community Resolutions:

• A neighbourhood dispute in Bilston blew up over a parking issue. A verbal altercation led to one neighbour pushing another – and a complaint to the police. The offending neighbour admitted their actions were wrong and the injured party was happy to accept an apology. Reluctant to go to court, both victim and offender were satisfied with the outcome.
• Two elderly men in the Springvale area got into a heated verbal dispute about the way in which their temple was being run. The argument escalated and resulted in them threatening each other with garden forks and spades. The attending police officer invited the pair to attend a mediation meeting at Bilston police station, in the presence of an experienced Sikh officer. The meeting allowed the two men to discuss their grievances and address some of the underlying issues that had led to the argument. At the end of the meeting, they apologised to one another for their behaviour.
• FIVE teenage girls were caught shoplifting from a store in Pendeford. It was arranged for the girls to return to the supermarket to join members of the neighbourhood policing team in distributing crime prevention leaflets. PC James Newton said: “The community resolution was well received by both local residents and customers in the store. The girls did a fantastic job and came away with a much more positive attitude towards both the police and the implications of committing crime.”
• Two 11-year old boys who were caught stealing sweets from a store in Willenhall have promised to never shoplift again. PC Lee Heath from the East Park neighbourhood police team said: “We sat down with the boys and their parents and explained the community resolution process.  We wanted to do something that would teach the young people the error of their ways and make a difference to the local community.“ The pair spent an afternoon picking up litter outside the supermarket. “We told them that if they ever did anything like this again, the consequences would be much more serious,” added PC Heath.

For further information about Community Resolutions force-wide, click here.