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Public urged to thank a cop on camera
16 March 2012
VICTIMS and witnesses of crime are being invited to thank their cop on camera.
For one month, West Midlands Police are asking members of the public who have used their services to submit a 60 second clip capturing their thoughts on how the officers and staff who dealt with their case performed.
The plea for comments caught on mobile phones, camcorders or webcams comes as part of operation Serve and Protect, a major drive by the force to improve the services it offers victims and witnesses of crime and anti-social behaviour.
The head of force's Professional Standards Department is spearheading the initiative. "Policing is vocational and all of our officers and staff joined to make a difference," said Detective Chief Superintendent Rachel Jones.
"Operation Serve and Protect taps into this desire of our employees to put victims and witnesses at the heart of everything we do.
"As part of the operation, senior officers have been contacting victims of crime to discuss their experience of West Midlands Police in a bid to further improve the way the force serves the public. But we want as many people as possible to be given the opportunity to provide feedback.
"We're not expecting award-winning productions just short, honest accounts of how we performed from the first point of contact right through to the conclusion of the case."
The clips will be used to give feedback to individual officers and for general training purposes.
Emerging themes in regards to good service will also be identified with the aim of rolling these out as examples of effective practice.
Similarly, recurrent areas for public dissatisfaction will be scrutinised with the aim of developing solutions.
The Midlands force has a national reputation for pioneering communications and securing public feedback to help shape service delivery.
In 2008 West Midlands Police was the first in the country to harness the power of micro-blogging site Twitter to communicate with the public and in 2010 the force, in conjunction with the independent West Midlands Police Authority, launched Rate Your Local Police - the first website of its kind where members of the public could rate the services they were afforded by the force's call handlers, detectives, PCSOs and others.
The force also works with local people with an active interest in policing who serve as 'critical friends' and advise on the implementation of force policy and execution of operations which are likely to have a significant impact on the community.
People should submit their clips by emailing: film_clips@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk
Participants should include any reference numbers they were issued as well as the time and place the offence took place.
Those under 18 should obtain the permission of their parent or guardian.
By submitting clips, consent for sharing these internally and edited versions externally will be assumed unless expressed otherwise.
Those who don't have access to a digital camera or the internet can still provide feedback by writing to their local police station.
For More information visit: www.west-midlands.police.uk/thankacop
