'It was a shambles' – West Midlands Police in Sikh festival 'photo opportunity' row
West Midlands Police has been accused of using a Sikh festival as a photo opportunity amid a row over community engagement.
Wolverhampton councillor Bhupinder Gakhal said officers attending a Vaisakhi event in Wednesfield had "got their picture taken and left".
It comes after he questioned whether the force was genuinely committed to community engagement or if it was just a "tick box exercise".
The row stems over a Vaisakhi procession in April, which drew a crowd of 5,000 and was attended by a chief inspector and two police officers.
Speaking at a meeting of the Police and Crime Commissioner's strategic board on which he sits, Labour councillor Mr Gakhal said the force's approach to the event was a "shambles".
"The Wednesfield event was the first Vaisakhi event in Wolverhampton," he said. "There was a chief inspector there and two uniformed officers. But they came, they had a presentation and they left.
"There was no communication, there was no engagement. They basically got their picture taken and left and that was it. The only police who were there who were actually engaging with 5,000 people were two PCSOs from Willenhall. This wasn't an event that just popped up, it has been going for 22 years.
"We have never had any issues there but this time around there was no engagement, there was nothing. It was a shambles to be honest.
"It's just not right that West Midlands Police say they value this and say they want to engage, but then when it comes to it there's no presence, which for me, destroys all the hard work."
Assistant Chief Constable Jayne Meir said the force would review policing at the event. She said: "It may be that on this particular occasion something did break down and we will review that and try to work out why that was.
"It could be that there was a particular incident or concern where those officers did have to deploy elsewhere, or it could be that it wasn't prioritised for some reason.
"I recognise that there is no point in attending if it is just to be seen to be there rather than making it meaningful. We do need to make sure that all of our staff recognise the importance of meaningful community engagement."
