jason durnall

I have recently retired from West Midlands Police with over 30 years’ service as a police officer and during that time I have worked within a wide range of departments, including response policing, dog section, roads policing, neighbourhood policing and force contact and force criminal investigation department.

I have a keen interest in environmental issues and wildlife conservation. I am also a keen falconer and enjoy all forms of aviculture.

I have recently retired from West Midlands Police with over 30 years’ service as a police officer and during that time I have worked within a wide range of departments, including response policing, dog section, roads policing, neighbourhood policing and force contact.  

My final posting was within Force CID as a VVA crime investigator. I worked as part of a team dealing with all violent, acquisitive and volume crime types within the Dudley borough which is passed to us via response officers who have completed as much of the primary investigation as possible. I have been additionally trained in local investigations incorporating volume and priority witness interviewing. I have completed the mainstream cybercrime (open source) course allowing me to utilise social media as an intelligence gathering tool. I am identification procedure and viewings qualified and have undertaken numerous procedures. I have served twice as a Police federation representative, representing and advancing the interests of police officers. I have strived for fairness and dignity at work through the Health Safety and Welfare committee. I am passionate about fairness and equality and have represented many officers from various departments and all federated ranks, supporting them through a range of issues including bullying, misconduct, standards of professional behaviour, eventually becoming the chair of the Health Safety and Welfare committee. During my time as chair I worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and with the forces own Health and Safety department, I have received specialist training in Health and safety and am a qualified workplace Health and Safety officer as well as a Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessor. One of the most recent achievements was the focus on officer welfare. I oversaw a WMP Police Officer survey, run by the committee, focussing on stress and the impact it has on the organisation. This culminated in a formal report of the findings and a subsequent meeting and briefing with the Chief Constable, POD and H&S where these results were presented and discussed. This resulted in the recent implementation of what has become the TRiM process and the roll out of role-based risk assessments that support our officers. During my time as a neighbourhood officer, I have actively engaged with community groups building rapport and actively developed relationships to further community confidence and cohesion. The Peelian principles of policing have never been more important than in the current political and social climate. We need to continue to forge and maintain excellent working relationships with the many diverse communities of the West Midlands, working transparently to improve legitimacy. Outside of work, I am an active member of an international club made up of police officers from all over the world. I have active exchanges with colleagues across the globe and discuss emerging issues and challenges within policing worldwide. I have an active interest in how other international forces deal with legitimacy issues and how these issues impact on the way they do business. I have seen issues develop outside of the UK and the ripple effect it has on UK policing. I would love to be a part of something that would enable me to utilise my links to challenge both current thinking and working practices, which would improve communication between Government agencies and the communities served. I have an active interest in furthering a culture of inclusivity within policing and every team I have worked on. I have experienced first-hand issues surrounding both diversity and inclusion. Having represented individuals as a Fed Rep and also personally experienced these issues myself I understand the issues and how impactive they can be to the individual. These issues are very real and alive today within the organisation. Although policing has pride in being a diverse employer, there are still many improvements that need to be made to change attitudes and working practices. 

Having served as a police officer for over 30 years, all of my current training is work related. however. all are transferable skillls.