Advice for journalists

Classification of media enquiries

The media team will respond to media enquiries from journalists where there is a policing purpose, such as incidents in Herefordshire, Worcestershire or Shropshire (including Telford), where police have responded or are investigating.

Media enquiries can be made either by phone (01905 727430) or email ([email protected]), the more information you can provide the better equipped the team will be to assist your enquiry.

When submitting a media enquiry please provide your

• name
• contact details (phone number and email), and
• media outlet
• If you are a freelance journalist, please let us know who you are working for

To protect the integrity of journalism you may be asked to provide the UK Press Card and/or evidence your publication is regulated by the IPSO, the independent regulator for the UK print and digital news industry.

Media enquiries will be prioritised based on threat, risk and harm. We will not respond to enquiries about non-policing matters or speculative enquiries.

We are committed to providing a timely response and being open and transparent in our engagement with the media. Please be advised the teams responsibilities are not solely responding to media enquiries and there will be occasions where other responsibilities, such as issuing witness appeals, providing communications support to investigations or a major incident, will take priority over responding to unconnected media enquiries.

Please email [email protected] if you would like to be added to our mailing list.

Further information

Incidents

To search incidents on our systems we require:

• location
• date
• time, and
• nature of the incident

If your enquiry relates to a road closure or damage only road traffic collision, unless there is a policing purpose, your enquiry will not be prioritised.

If your enquiry relates to an on-going incident, we may decide to issue details proactively and refer you to information on our own channels rather than provide an individual response.

Custody images

Please complete our Custody image request form to request a custody image.

Custody images will only be released if a custodial sentence of more than 12 months is given and if the request is contemporaneous.

The copyright for custody images remains with West Mercia Police and images must only be used for the purpose for which it is issued.

Arrests/investigations

In accordance with the College of Policing media relations Authorised Professional Practice West Mercia Police does not confirm nor deny the name of individuals arrested or under investigation, unless in exceptional circumstances decided by the force.

If your enquiry relates to the arrest of an individual, please include details of the arrest and incident/investigation that led to the arrest, we will not provide a response based on name alone and we will not confirm nor deny any name provided.

Deaths

We will only respond to media enquiries about deaths where there is a police investigation, or a policing purpose for us to do so.

If there is a police investigation, we will only identify those who have died when they have been formally identified and the family informed.

Road Traffic Collisions

We will not carry out condition checks on those taken to hospital.

Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information requests can be directed to our FOI team, via our website.

Documentary requests

If you are a production company requesting our involvement and/or assets (e.g. CCTV, evidential material) please complete the Documentary Request Form.

Our involvement and/or provision of assets will not be considered without completion of the form.

Due to the number of requests, we receive, participation and/or provision of materials cannot be guaranteed. If you do not receive a response within eight weeks please assume we are not able to support your request.

Please note: this does not apply to broadcast media agencies undertaking news reporting, such enquiries should be directed to [email protected].