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West Midlands Police Commander for Wolverhampton, Chief Superintendent Anthony Tagg, has written a message which acknowledges and addresses the incidents which have happened across Wolverhampton. This includes an incident at Staveley Road in Whitmore Reans, where three men were taken to hospital and six arrested, the death of Navpreet Singh, who was murdered in Phoenix Park in Blakenhall on October 22, just yards from a shooting in August that has led to a man admitting attempted murder. Another man, Jermaine Smith, was shot dead on Lilleshall Crescent in the All Saints area on Saturday, while detectives have also investigated a possible discharge of a gun in the city on October 21, a man was shot and badly injured in a daytime attack near Wolverhampton's city centre Sainsbury's store on October 13 and two men, Duaine Mills and Syed Zain Ali, were fatally shot as they sat in a vehicle in Whitmore Reans on September 19. The Chief Superintendent said he shared the concerns of everyone in the city and spoke about the measures being taken to tackle crime across Wolverhampton, as well as saying that the force was always there to listen to people and their concerns. He wrote: "My name is Chief Superintendent Anthony Tagg, and I’m the West Midlands Police Commander for Wolverhampton. "Over the last few weeks, I have spoken to many of you, introducing myself to residents, business owners, and community leaders. "Understandably, many of you have voiced worries and frustrations about several concerning violent incidents around the city recently, and I share those feelings. "I share them because my goal, and the goal of every police officer and police staff member working in Wolverhampton, is to make the city as safe as possible. "At the outset I should say that we are not treating these incidents as linked, but each is subject to a thorough individual investigation. While this isn’t the place to go into the specific details of those live investigations, I hope you feel you have been kept suitably up to date on their progress through our official WMP channels. "Those investigations have led to several significant arrests. Importantly, charges against key individuals in some of those cases have been brought, and they are now before the courts. "I completely understand why these crimes, including the tragic deaths of several people, make people feel unsafe and harm the reputation of our city, which is why I wanted to set out some of the steps we’re taking to address criminality. "We work at pace to target and arrest offenders, with a real focus on those we suspect of being behind violent crime involving weapons. Through a combination of intelligence and proactive policing operations, we are relentless in targeting those bringing harm to our community. "Operation Redfox, set up specifically to crack down on violence and serious organised crime in Wolverhampton, sees extra resources deployed to catch offenders and prevent crime happening in the first place. Those resources include both unarmed and armed officers, and your local officers are being joined by colleagues from across the force as we increase our patrols. "Those patrols are targeted and will continue. They’re led by intelligence, and focus on key times and locations. If you have concerns about a specific location or information to help us build a clearer intelligence picture, I urge you to share that with us. "While Operation Redfox runs in Wolverhampton, we are also joined by colleagues from other departments across the force, as well as the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands, as we target those involved in serious and organised crime. "In carrying out warrants and executing specific operations to take more weapons off the city’s streets, it’s important to remind people that possessing a firearm carries a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. I hope that acts as a clear message: if you’re carrying a weapon, storing one, or know anyone carrying one, you are committing a serious offence. We will not ease off in our mission to target those people, and we will continue to do this using a variety of tactics. "The statistics show that overall crime in Wolverhampton is decreasing. It’s down 10 per cent, while violent crime is down by more than 7.5 per cent. Those numbers can help us understand trends and how we compare to other areas, but they clearly don’t tell us the full story, and I understand they do little to ease your concerns. "To be completely clear: every officer in Wolverhampton is aware that behind crime numbers and statistics are devastated family members and worried residents. All of us within the police come to work in the city every day with those people at the forefront of our minds. "Each neighbourhood in Wolverhampton has a Dedicated Neighbourhood Officer, someone with a unique understanding of the area and the issues within it. If you haven’t already, you can find their details on the WMP website. You’ll also find information how you can meet them, share your concerns, and hear about the recent work they’ve done to tackle those concerns. "Our officers are human too. They have a link to this proud city, and like you, are striving to help it be the best place it can be. "For this to happen, we must all work together. Crime threatens that togetherness, but as ever, we're working in partnership with a range of groups and organisations across the city. We've recently launched our Safter Wolverhampton Partnership Strategy, and one of the main focuses of that will be Public Place Violence. Through the strategy, we'll be using data to target locations and provide support for victims of crime, as well as early interventions for offenders. "I hope you know that as well as preventing, disrupting, and investigating crime, we are always ready to listen to you. No concern or piece of information is too small for us to consider. "You can call us on 101, speak to us via our website, email officers, or speak to us face to face in police stations or while we’re out on patrol. "Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for continuing to be an engaged citizen within our proud area. "Chief Superintendent Anthony Tagg, Wolverhampton Local Policing Area."
