PCC launches major survey to rebuild trust in West Midlands Police

The initiative, described as a “landmark” programme, will gather detailed feedback from residents on their experiences of policing, perceptions of safety, and priorities for local services. It forms part of a wider effort to rebuild public confidence in West Midlands Police and shape future policing strategies.

The survey will be conducted through face-to-face, door-to-door engagement, with participants asked about trust in the police, satisfaction with services, and concerns around crime and community safety.

According to the PCC’s office, the findings will directly inform how policing is delivered across the West Midlands, feeding into both operational priorities and longer-term policy decisions.

The move follows a commitment within the West Midlands Police and Crime Plan 2025–2029 to introduce regular public perception surveys to provide a clearer and more accurate picture of community sentiment.

Improving public trust has been identified as a central ambition of the region’s policing strategy, with ongoing work to better understand how different communities experience policing and where confidence is lacking.

The announcement of the survey also comes at a moment of significant leadership change for the force.

Former chief constable Craig Guildford retired in January 2026 following intense scrutiny over the force’s handling of intelligence used to justify a ban on supporters attending a football match. The decision drew national attention after a report identified serious shortcomings in the evidence and decision-making process, with ministers publicly stating they had lost confidence in his leadership.

Mr Guildford said at the time that the “political and media frenzy” surrounding his position had become detrimental to the force, announcing his retirement with immediate effect. The episode has been widely seen as damaging to public trust, reinforcing concerns about transparency, accountability and the use of intelligence within policing.

Against that backdrop, the PCC’s new survey is designed to provide more granular, locally grounded insight into public attitudes.

By engaging residents directly in their communities, the PCC’s office aims to capture a broader and more representative picture of public confidence—particularly in areas or groups where trust may be weakest. The results are expected to help identify gaps between public expectations and policing delivery, as well as inform decisions on resource allocation, neighbourhood policing, and community engagement.

For policing leaders, the significance of the survey lies less in its scale than in how its findings are used.

Public perception data is now central to performance frameworks across England and Wales, with trust and confidence increasingly treated as core indicators alongside crime outcomes and response times.

However, surveys of this kind have historically struggled to translate insight into operational change. The challenge for West Midlands Police—and for the PCC—will be demonstrating that feedback leads to visible improvements on the ground.

In the wake of recent leadership turbulence, the survey may also be seen as an attempt to reset the relationship between the force and the communities it serves.

The launch of the survey comes against a backdrop of longstanding concerns about public confidence in West Midlands Police.

Recent comparative data has placed the force among the lowest-ranked in England and Wales for both trust and overall confidence, underlining the scale of the challenge facing local leaders.

Previous assessments linked to the Police and Crime Plan have also highlighted disparities in trust among specific groups, including concerns about confidence levels among minority communities.