Police chief praises 'brilliant' Murder 24/7

The chief constable of West Mercia Police has praised a new BBC series which shows the force investigating some of the region's highest profile crimes.

Richard Cooper said morale within the force had been boosted by the third series of Murder 24/7, which followed officers working around-the-clock on murder cases and other serious crimes.

He also revealed how it became "almost second nature" for officers to have a TV crew following them around, with hundreds of hours of footage left on the cutting room floor.

"I think it's brilliant - they've done a really good job in getting across all the work we do, and still making it consumable to the viewer," he said.

The third series covers the murder of Joanne Samak in Droitwich in July 2024, as well as the murder of Cheryl McKenna, who was stabbed to death in her home in Redditch.

The series also revisited the murder of DPD delivery driver Aurman Singh in Shrewsbury, which led to four men being being jailed in 2025.

"We want people to trust us and have confidence in their local police force," said Cooper.

"I'm really proud of the work my officers do and this was a chance to show some of that - I think it's a really good insight for people to see that we do deal with serious types of crimes, and we deal with them well."

Cooper also said the third series was subject to a comprehensive legal agreement that took many months to thrash out with Expectation TV, which shot the series.

"There was probably a period of maybe a year where some of our senior people were liaising with the production team over how things would work and getting agreements signed," he added.

"Then it was a case of getting to know each other - the end result is a really good piece of TV.

"There's definitely been a spike in interest in the force, it's attracted loads of views on television and the iPlayer.

"I think the biggest impact has been the positive commentary that's been attached to the work we do, that has been a real shot in the arm to West Mercia Police.

"I'm really pleased about that."

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.