Police are prepared to take it on chin as regards being rated

RESIDENTS in Sutton and Erdington are being urged to add their voice to more than 700 who have already done so – and rate their police.

A total of 760 people have logged onto the www.rateyourlocalpolice.co.uk website since it launched in the summer of 2010, giving opinions on how officers in their local area are serving them.

West Midlands Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth, said: "This site gives members of the public the chance to air their views about the quality of service they have received, which is fed back into the organisation to help improve our service in all areas of business.

"It effectively allows members of the public to act as 'mystery customers' and rate our service.

"People who use it can remain anonymous – we want to know about the service they receive rather than who they are.

"The feedback we've received is a good way of monitoring our customer service and I hope by being open and transparent in this way we can really help improve the way we do business."

The site tackles issues from how the police tackle anti-social behaviour to personal thanks to officers working in local neighbourhoods.

Rateyourlocalpolice.co.uk has attracted a wide range of feedback so far.

Managed by West Midlands Police Authority, which is independent of the force – the site allows the public, anonymously if they wish, to score the service received from officers and staff, and see what everyone else is saying about them too

Comments posted on the site are forwarded to the local station and neighbourhood officers are given the chance to post a reply.

In the first site of its kind related to police, the aim was to give members of the public a chance to say exactly what they think about policing in their area – good and bad.

Since its launch in the summer of 2010, of the 760 responses posted on the site, 376 have said the service they received had been 'good' or 'very good', 380 said it had been 'poor' or 'very poor', while 53 people described the service as average.

Bishop Derek Webley, Chair of West Midlands Police Authority, added:

"By using this website, people can effectively act as 'mystery customers' and rate the service they receive from their police.

"Website users can remain anonymous if they want to – we want to know about the service they get rather than who they are – but by publishing the comments, people will see what other people have to say about the service they have received."