for life. A 2021 investigation by Newsnight and The Law Society Gazette found that alleged hate crimes in which the victim was a police officer were significantly more likely to result in a successful prosecution across a number of force areas including the West Midlands. The investigation found that in the year ending March 2020, crimes against police officers and staff constituted 7 percent of hate incidents recorded by West Midlands Police, but resulted in 43 percent of hate crimes convictions. In March 2022, a WMP constable resigned after having been found to have fabricated the death of a partner in order to receive bereavement leave and other benefits; Chief Constable Thompson said the officer would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had he not resigned. Leadership and performance , West Midlands Police was smaller than at any previous time in its history, having lost nearly 2,300 officers since 2010. Government funding for West Midlands Police fell by £145M since 2010. In 2018, Chief Constable Dave Thompson said that falling numbers of police officers due to funding cuts, and a "wider spread of crime", prevented the police doing everything the public want or expect of them. Leadership The current chief constable is Craig Guildford, and the deputy chief constable is Vanessa Jardine. Chief constables Sir Derrick Capper (1974–1975) Philip Knights (1975–1985) Sir Geoffrey Dear (1985–1990) Sir Ron Hadfield (1990–1996) Sir Edward Crewe (1996–2002) Sir Paul Scott-Lee (2002–2009) Chris Sims (1 June 2009 January 2016) Sir Dave Thompson (January 2016 December 2022) Craig Guildford (December 2022 present) Police and Crime Commissioner The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), established in 2012 as one of several directly-elected police and crime commissioners and replacing the West Midlands Police Authority, is responsible for oversight and accountability for WMP and appoints the chief constable. As of 2021, the current PCC is Simon Foster. Crime statistics and budget The following table shows the percentage of cases resulting in a criminal charge or court summons in West Midlands Police's jurisdiction, by offence group, for the period from April 2020 to March 2021: Dave Thompson stated that unforeseen pensions expenses of £8.6M in 2019 and £13.9M in 2020, from a budget of £514M cost roughly as much as 500 officers and would lower the total number of officers to 6,000, contrasted with 8,600 in 2010. Thompson added, “There is no question there will be more obvious rationing