Colmore BID Street Operations Team Aid Birmingham Business and West Midlands Police in City Break-in 

Our services here at Colmore BID are varied, with no two days the same. From organising events and festivals to helping to keep the streets clean, we take pride in maintaining our Business District for workers and visitors alike.

Maintaining the look of the District is important to us, but so is making sure the area is safe. This crucial role falls to our Street Operations Team, headed up by Street Operations Manager, John-Jo Von Johnson.   

The team dedicates its time to improving the safety in the city’s Business District, working closely alongside West Midlands Police to address anti-social behaviour and crime and manage on-street activity. Between 2022 and 2023, the team assisted with over 1,200 cases of anti-social behaviour in the District. 

Earlier this year, our Street Operations team was made aware of an incident that took place in the early hours of the morning at a building within the District; a business had been broken into and a number of items had been stolen. Having reported the incident to the police, who started an investigation to find the individual in question, the business also invited the Colmore BID team into the office to look at a still image as they were aware of the team’s knowledge of the city and links to the local law enforcement.  

Having reviewed the footage John-Jo recognised the individual, who was known to the Street Operations team for anti-social behaviour within the District. John-Jo immediately escalated this information to West Midlands Police, enabling the officers to concentrate their efforts on the identified individual. 

In less than 7 weeks the individual had been located, arrested by the police, and received a custodial sentence.  

The business involved said: “We would like to thank the Colmore BID team so much for their help with identifying the suspect of our office break-in, for taking the time to look at the still image and for being professional from start to finish. 

“We are so pleased to hear that the individual was detained and now sentenced – if it were not for the Colmore BID Street Operations Team, he would still be roaming the streets. 

“This was not the first time that the Street Operations Team have helped us out; on many occasions over the years, during office hours, the team has helped remove unwanted individuals from our reception or premises.  

“Colmore BID do a fantastic job of making us all feel safe in our city centre.” 

For the Street Operations Team, this was just one incident of many where they have assisted West Midlands Police. This partnership approach goes a long way in reassuring our District’s businesses that the safety and security of their workers and visitors are of paramount importance. 

PS 0927 Kriss Willetts, West Midlands Police, said: “West Midlands Police and Colmore BID have a very close long-standing relationship and often collaborate on many issues.  

“Most recently the Colmore BID team have identified a series of burglaries which were occurring across the BID area. Due to the early identification of these offences PC Geertsma-Dolton, Team 6 Burglary SPOC, was able to work with Colmore BID to identify six separate offenders responsible. 

“Of these, five have been arrested, four have been charged and sent to court, one remains under investigation, and one is outstanding pending arrest. The relationship between Colmore BID and the city centre police team has been vital in enabling us to conduct CCTV enquiries, identify and locate these offenders. 

“If businesses in the area are subjected to a crime or spot any suspicious activity, we would urge them to report the matters to the police and Colmore BID.”

Looking forward, we have developed 11 promises in our Business Plan to ensure a safe and secure District for employees, residents, and visitors from 2024. 
 
Our BID4 promises include increasing our team of security officers and extending their service hours, launching a resilience alert system, coordinating personal safety classes, developing our Women’s Safety Group, and much more!
 
Find out more about BID4 and our ambitions for 2024-2029 here. 

If you’re in need of assistance, please call the Colmore BID Street Operations team on 07572 257246 or email John-Jo at john-jo.vonjohnson@colmorebid.co.uk.