Police commissioner won’t be apologising for “subsidise” comment

The region’s police and crime commissioner has said he won’t be apologising for saying West Mercia Police is “effectively subsidising” Warwickshire Police.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said his comments had been misunderstood by Simon Payne, chairman of Warwickshire Police Federation, who had demanded an apology on behalf of the force’s officers.

Mr Payne had said the police commissioner was not giving the full picture of the alliance and was wrong to claim that West Mercia was subsidising Warwickshire.

Mr Campion said: “Mr Payne has misunderstood both the issue and my recent comments.

“Police officers from both forces have always shown total commitment to keeping people safe, regardless of force borders and boundaries.

“That has never been questioned and indeed West Mercia has been very clear about our preference to continue to collaborate with Warwickshire in the future.

“However, it is very clear that the current structures and arrangements we are asking our police officers to operate within are fundamentally flawed.

“These structures need to be reformed to ensure our communities in West Mercia get the full value of the police service they pay for.”

Speaking at a meeting of the police and crime panel last Thursday, Mr Campion said West Mercia Police was not getting the full use of the hundreds of millions it spent on policing and was “effectively subsidising” Warwickshire.

Mr Campion also said West Mercia was “losing out” on some of its resources because they were “constantly” being sent to Warwickshire.