In his annual report, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster said improvements were made in positive outcome rates, increased prosecutions and reduced the time taken for court cases to progress.
There was also a reduction in the number of investigations stopped due to victims withdrawing their support.
But the number of investigations stopped due to insufficient evidence increased in the same time period.
The force also fell away from achieving as close to 100 per cent as it could in recording, accurately and thoroughly, reports of crime to national standards.
Data showed the overall positive outcome rate increased from 7.9 per cent in 2024 to 15.7 per cent in the year ending March 2026.
The number of cases assessed for the possibility of evidence-led prosecutions increased from 960 in 2024 to 1,266 this year.
The timeliness of case progression from charge to completion at crown court also improved from 220 median days to 186 median days.
The percentage of West Midlands Police cases that met Crown Prosecution Service file quality compliance also improved from 59.5 per cent in 2024 to 72.5 per cent in 2026.
The force’s bid to reduce investigations being stopped due to victims withdrawing their support despite offenders being identified proved successful with a drop from 27.8 per cent in 2024 to 23.1 per cent this year.
But the number of investigations stopped due to insufficient evidence despite victims supporting action increased to 16.1 per cent in 2026 from 11.9 per cent two years ago.
The annual report said: “Bringing more offenders to justice was one of the strongest areas of performance during 2025/26.
“The overall positive outcome rate increased from 7.9 per cent to 15.7 per cent, demonstrating sustained improvements in investigative effectiveness and increasing numbers of offences resulting in meaningful criminal justice outcomes.
“Further improvements were evident across the wider criminal justice process.
“Police evidence-led prosecutions increased from 960 to 1,286, median Crown Court case progression reduced from 220 days to 186 days, and CPS case quality compliance improved to 72.5 per cent, an increase of 13 percentage points.
“Although Crime Data Integrity audit results reduced against previous baselines in some offence categories, more recent internal audits demonstrate improving compliance across domestic abuse, stalking and harassment offences, providing confidence that performance is improving ahead of future inspection activity.”
Source: www.birmingham-now.co.uk
