Collaboration

West Mercia Police has established formal arrangements for collaborative working with the three other police forces within the West Midlands Region (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands). The Regional Collaboration Statement of Purpose sets out the principles which provide an agreed framework within which to pursue collaborative opportunities. These principles describe how we will work collaboratively with other forces where this will enhance the levels of protection afforded to the public, or where levels of protection can be maintained but delivered more efficiently.

Examples of regional collaboration include:

• The Regional Intelligence Unit gathers and collates intelligence on serious and organised criminals affecting the West Midlands Region. This intelligence drives operational activity to disrupt criminals and bring them to justice
• Our operational response to serious and organised crime affecting the West Midlands region is called Operation Viper. Viper involves all four forces within the region, together with our partners in the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency
• Central Motorway Police Group - a three force policing service made up of 140 police officers and 29 support staff responsible for patrolling the motorways of the West Midlands, West Mercia and Staffordshire force areas
• Our police helicopter, based at Wolverhampton airport, Stourbridge, is shared with Staffordshire Police
• The Regional Protective Services Group comprises Assistant Chief Constables from the West Mercia, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands forces and senior representatives from HM Revenue and Customs and SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency)
• Business continuity arrangements are in place within our region in respect of Fingerprints, High Tech Crime Unit, Photographic and Scenes of Crime
• West Mercia is leading the West Midlands regional collaboration for forensic services
• The Force will continue with a Procurement Strategy which prioritises purchases from a national or regional contract or framework agreement, a collaborative or, where there is no suitable alternative, a local arrangement. This builds on 20 years of collaboration within the police region of the West Midlands and will deliver additional collaborative contracts during 2010/11
• Our specialist crime facilities in Worcestershire are being used by Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade for training. In the future it is intended that our planned central records storage facilities will be used not only by West Mercia but by other neighbouring police forces.

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