{"id":603754,"date":"2025-11-30T17:31:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/603754\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T17:31:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T17:31:15","slug":"call-to-declare-public-safety-emergency-in-birmingham-after-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/603754\/","title":{"rendered":"Call to declare \u2018public safety emergency&#8217; in Birmingham after attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Conservative councillors are urging the Labour-run authority to adopt their proposed \u2018action plan to make <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressandstar.com\/news\/local-hubs\/birmingham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> safer\u2019 amid recent stabbings in the city centre.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month five people including four teenagers were <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.expressandstar.com\/news\/crime\/2025\/11\/14\/five-arrests-made-after-teenager-stabbed-in-birmingham-city-centre\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arrested<\/a> after a 17-year-old was stabbed outside the Bullring.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservatives&#8217; plan includes setting up a high street safety task force, including business groups, to tackle the issue of violent and sexual <a href=\"http:\/\/expressandstar.com\/news\/crime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crimes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the Labour administration has hit out at the opposition, saying work is already under way to tackle violence and accusing the Conservatives of \u201cplaying politics\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Conservatives&#8217; motion for debate, which calls for a public safety emergency to be declared, is set to be discussed at a full council meeting on Tuesday (December 2).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen residents are afraid to walk home or enjoy our high streets, it damages the very heart of our city,\u201d Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the opposition, said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/c7d8f274-edf7-4b30-a44c-8524ec00170f.jpeg\"   alt=\"Erdington councillor Robert Alden in the high street. Credit: Alexander Brock. Permission for use for all LDRS partners.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Erdington councillor Robert Alden in the high street. Photo: Alexander Brock<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA city that feels unsafe cannot thrive,\u201d Conservative councillor Ewan Mackey added.<\/p>\n<p>The motion says the council should introduce a number of measures, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Calling on West Midlands Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner to conduct an \u201curgent review\u201d of resources permanently allocated to town centres\/high streets and hotspots, and ramp up dedicated patrols.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The reallocation of existing council emergency resources, where possible, to support crime-prevention measures, including \u201cswitching back on\/replacing streetlights previously dimmed\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But Birmingham Labour is expected to amend the motion to reflect the work already being undertaken to tackle violent crime in the city.<\/p>\n<p>Councillor Jamie Tennant, the cabinet member for community safety, acknowledged that recent violent attacks had \u201cshocked our city\u201d and stressed that tackling the issue has been a \u201ctop priority\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know the horrific impact that violent and sexual offences have on victims and their loved ones, and the wider community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe continue to work with the police and our partners to tackle the scourge of knife crime and combat violence against women and girls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a council we must work to make our city safe whilst countering false narratives that undermine public confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued that from Monday (December 1), the council will have doubled the number of Community Safety Officers working across the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe council is already working with police to develop an action plan to make our city centre safer,\u201d Coun Tennant said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Conservative Group will have the chance to play a constructive role in its development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/425cc58a-7a7a-4b28-bd03-c9148227baf2.PNG\"   alt=\"Birmingham Labour councillor Jamie Tennant, Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities. From council webcast.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"w-full max-w-none\"\/>Birmingham Labour councillor Jamie Tennant, Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities. From council webcast.<\/p>\n<p>The Labour councillor went on to criticise the opposition party, arguing that the West Midlands had lost hundreds of experienced police officers under successive Conservative governments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLabour is already beginning to put that right through increasing funding and rolling out more Designated Neighbourhood Officers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTackling violence is and has always been a top priority for the council and our partners, and the Conservative group should work with us rather than playing politics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhilst the rate of violent crime is falling, there will be no let-up in our hard work to make our city safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Council leader John Cotton previously said the authority was committed to tackling knife crime through \u201ccoordinated prevention, education, and enforcement efforts&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The council also said that it regularly \u201cinspects, maintains and rectifies faults\u201d on its street lights across the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has also taken a number of measures to reduce energy usage and carbon emissions arising from street lighting through various initiatives, including an \u00a38m programme of replacing ageing lighting with modern LED types.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It adds that it has replaced 1,000 end-of-life lighting columns and lighting units with new assets and is focusing on monitoring and maintaining lighting at appropriate levels for the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Life-changing impact\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Following recent incidents in the city centre, West Midlands Police (WMP) said this month that it would increase patrols in central Birmingham.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur patrols are supported by resources from across West Midlands Police, as well as partners including Birmingham City Council and safety officers from the Central BID,\u201d the force said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProject Servator deployments also take place regularly around the city centre to keep you safe, by providing a reassuring presence for the public and disrupting a range of criminality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHighly-visible specialist uniformed officers are on-hand to speak to anyone with concerns, and deployments also include plain clothes officers who are trained to spot the signs someone may be planning or preparing to commit a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week WMP said extra officers would be on the streets as it continues work to reduce knife crime and serious youth violence around the region.<\/p>\n<p>It has expanded its Project Guardian Taskforce, which now has 50 officers dedicated to it \u2013 including two teams in Birmingham.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe work of the taskforce is having an impact,\u201d the police force said. \u201cThe teams recover hundreds of weapons and make hundreds of arrests every year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecent crime figures revealed knife crime has reduced by 16 per cent and serious youth violence has fallen by more than 13 per cent in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt WMP, we\u2019re involved in enforcement and education to deter young people from carrying weapons as we know the life-changing impact they can have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe work with partners through the Violence Reduction Partnership to divert young people away from crime.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Conservative councillors are urging the Labour-run authority to adopt their proposed \u2018action plan to make Birmingham safer\u2019 amid&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,188,393,4884,8823,379,12,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-603754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-ldrs","14":"tag-local-hubs","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115639846156545086","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}