The Albany Gazette - Local UK police chief retires amid Maccabi fan ban row

West Midlands Police and its chief constable Craig Guildford, 52, have been under mounting pressure about how they came to the decision to bar the fans from the November 6 UEFA Europa League match with Aston Villa.

The move sparked political outrage in Britain, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and in Israel, with Israeli leaders denouncing it as "antisemitic".

"The Chief Constable, Craig Guildford, has today retired from West Midlands Police with immediate effect," the regional force's crime commissioner Simon Foster told reporters.

He said the row had become a "significant distraction" to West Midlands Police, which includes Birmingham, the UK's second-biggest city.

"It was important this matter was resolved in a balanced, calm, fair, measured and respectful manner," Foster added.

Britain's interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, said Guildford has "done the right thing" by stepping down.

On Wednesday, she said she had lost confidence in Guildford, after a preliminary policing watchdog report found the force "overstated" the threat posed by Maccabi fans to justify the ban.

"The chief constable of West Midlands Police no longer has my confidence," Mahmood, who is also a local Birmingham MP, told parliament at the time.

Mahmood also earlier this week announced plans to give the country's interior minister the power to sack failing local chief constables. Currently only regional crime commissioners such as Foster have that power.

Birmingham's population is 30 percent Muslim, according to the last census in 2021, and has seen several protests in support of Palestinians since the 2023 start of the war in Gaza, including on the night of the match.

The publication of the independent police watchdog's report came after months of scrutiny of the police force over the ban.

The report, led by police chief inspector Andy Cooke, accused the force of "confirmation bias".

"Rather than follow the evidence, the force sought only the evidence to support their desired position to ban the fans," said Mahmood.

Cooke's review "shows that the police overstated the threat posed by the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, while understating the risk that was posed to the Israeli fans if they travelled to the area," Mahmood said.

- 'Inaccuracies' -

In a statement, West Midlands Police said on Wednesday: "We are extremely sorry for the impact these have had on individuals and their communities."

"We know that mistakes were made, but reiterate the findings that none of this was done with an intent of deliberate distortion or discrimination."

Maccabi fans were blocked from travelling to the match by the local Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which cited safety concerns based on advice from the police force.

West Midlands Police had classified the match as "high risk", but the police watchdog found eight "inaccuracies" in their advice to the SAG, including a reference to a non-existent game between Tel Aviv and West Ham, which was an "AI hallucination".

Guildford apologised to MPs for providing erroneous evidence when he was questioned by them earlier this month.

He had previously told MPs the error was the result of a Google search and denied the force had used artificial intelligence.

But in a letter to MPs on Wednesday, Guildford admitted the erroneous information was due to the use of Microsoft Copilot, an AI chatbot.

The watchdog's report said other inaccuracies included West Midlands Police "greatly" exaggerating the problems in Amsterdam in November 2024 after Maccabi fans clashed with locals there, the review said.

(T.Wright--TAG)