Statement from West Midlands Police

Publishing of the Serious Case Review into the death of Khyra Ishaq

ACC Gareth Cann, Assistant Chief Constable, Crime, West Midlands Police

“Khyra’s untimely and tragic death has caused all organisations concerned in the protection of children to examine whether they could have done more to prevent her death.

“The publication of the Serious Case Review shows that there were opportunities for those involved in delivering services to children to work more effectively with each other.

“West Midlands Police accepts the findings and in respect of those relevant to us has already put in place a number of improvements to support the safeguarding of children.

“The Serious Case Review makes 18 recommendations, one of which directly relates to West Midlands Police jointly with another agency. This has been fully addressed.

“Over the course of the last 12 months a new public protection department has been created. This department has dedicated teams of specialist investigators and other staff in each of the 10 local policing units within the West Midlands. These teams link the disciplines of child protection, care for vulnerable adults and domestic abuse with improved capability and capacity to conduct investigations and keep people safe.

“This change is to ensure that we are working as effectively as possible with our partners by sharing information to identifying and reduce the risk to children and adults alike. These relationships continue to strengthen.

“Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility. To supplement the changes we have made in our public protection department, we have recently undergone a major change to enhance neighbourhood policing and are better placed to listen to the concerns of communities. Links with key figures in these communities have grown, creating two way processes for sharing and acting on information.

“Khyra’s death shocked and saddened us all. The abuse suffered by Khyra’s siblings will have far-reaching and long lasting repercussions.

“In line with our partners, West Midlands Police will learn from this case and put strategies in place to reduce the risk of this tragedy happening again.”

– Ends –

West Midlands Police is the second largest police force in the country, covering an area of 348 square miles and serving a population of almost 2.6 million.

The region sits at the very heart of the country and covers the three major centres of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. It also includes the busy and thriving districts of Sandwell, Walsall, Solihull and Dudley.

The West Midlands is an area rich in diversity, with 18 per cent of its population from ethnic minority backgrounds.

An average of 170,000 motorists travel through the region daily, making its motorways some of the busiest in Europe.

Against this backdrop, the force deals with more than 2,000 emergency calls for help every day, as well as patrolling the streets and responding to incidents 24-hours-aday, seven days a week.

The force is divided into 10 local policing units (LPUs), each headed by a Chief Superintendent who is responsible for the overall policing and management of the area.

The 10 LPUs are divided into 171 neighbourhoods, each policed by a dedicated neighbourhood team consisting of police officers, police community support officers and special constables. Neighbourhood policing is supported by a range of forcewide specialist teams.

www.west-midlands.police.uk

PrintFriendly