A POLICE boss has backed the policy of giving bouquets of flowers to crime victims as an “act of kindness” to help them get over the ordeal.

Bill Longmore, West Mercia’s elected Police and Crime Commissioner, defended giving the victims of burglaries and muggings flowers and said the idea is to support people, not “soften the blow” in cases where police could not catch the culprit.

His force, along with the Metropolitan Police, is among those that regularly send out bunches to victims.

National media reports over the weekend criticised the practice, with some victims claiming they felt “fobbed off” by the gesture, especially in cases where police had failed to get to the bottom of the crime.

But Mr Longmore said he was firmly behind the West Mercia scheme, which was introduced four years ago. He said the force has a dedicated fund to support the victims of crime and that officers make donations themselves because they care about victims’ welfare.

“I’m all in favour of this sort of thing,” he told your Worcester News.

“As we face all the cuts in policing, it’s more important than ever that the police should enjoy this close relationship.

“This money doesn’t come from taxpayers, it comes out of a fund. Officers have it taken out of their wages every month.

“They want to give something back to the victim. We get some very tragic cases and there is a lot of generosity shown by the police.

“There are cases where it does help but you have got to be mindful. You couldn’t do it every time. There are cases where some act of kindness helps.”

Mr Longmore said he remembered an incident in his own police career where a young girl had her money stolen while she was out shopping with her mum and turned up at the police station in tears. Officers organised a collection for her and gave her the money back.

No one from West Mercia Police was available to comment when your Worcester News tried to get in contact yesterday.

But the force has previously revealed it sent flowers to the female victim of a street robbery in Oswestry, as well as to a 97-year-old woman who had handbags stolen from her home in Ludlow.

Councillor Paul Middlebrough, the leader of Wychavon District Council and chairman of the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel, said he believed giving a bouquet could be “a very nice gesture” in some circumstances.

“I’m sure the police will be sensible in terms of who they actually give it to,” he said.