Night Watch Officers to patrol city centre on Friday and Saturday nights

A new team of council Night Watch Officers has started patrolling Birmingham city centre on Friday and Saturday nights to help people enjoy a night out safely.

The eight officers work between 9pm and 3am at key locations in the night-time economy, providing a visible, reassuring presence for residents, visitors, businesses and venue staff.

What they do

The officers focus on public reassurance, supporting licensed venues, calming conflict before it escalates, enforcing Public Space Protection Orders, giving basic first aid and gathering intelligence to support wider community safety work.

They work alongside Business Improvement District wardens, the police, venue operators and CCTV teams. The team is funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Home Office's Knife Crime Concentration Fund and the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership's Violence Against Women and Girls funding.

Visible on WalkSafe

The officers have also been added to WalkSafe, a free personal safety app supported by the council. App users can see where the Night Watch Officers are in real time while travelling around the city centre at night, as well as sharing journeys with trusted contacts, using an SOS feature and finding accredited safe spaces.

"Everyone should be able to enjoy Birmingham's night-time economy and travel around the city feeling safe and confident, regardless of their background or circumstances," said Councillor Jane Baston, Cabinet Member for Equalities, Communities and Social Justice.

Councillor Harris Khaliq, Cabinet Member for City Services and Digital, said the city centre is one of the busiest destinations in the country on weekend evenings and it was important that everyone feels safe and supported.