PCCs divided over plans to merge police forces

Hertfordshire PCC Jonathan Ash-Edwards said there was “no evidence” that creating large regional forces would improve the fight against crime, arguing that smaller county forces could achieve better crime-solving rates and enjoy greater public confidence.

He warned that regional forces risked becoming more distant from local communities, with rural areas and smaller towns losing influence over policing priorities.

“Policing needs sensible modernisation and investment, not top-down and expensive regional reorganisation that will distract policing and divert resources from the front line,” he said.

However, Bedfordshire PCC John Tizard said reform was long overdue and should include mergers and greater collaboration between forces.

He favoured a more limited regional structure, suggesting Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire could form a combined police service, building on existing arrangements through which the three forces already share specialist capabilities.

He said any larger police service would need to retain strong local policing units covering neighbourhood policing, response, CID, safeguarding and crime prevention, with local commanders remaining accountable for delivery.

The comments follow Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s call last week for the number of forces to be reduced to between eight and ten, supported by hundreds of local policing commands and a new National Police Service.

The Government has commissioned former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe to review police force structures. No final decisions on the number or boundaries of future forces have been announced.

A Home Office spokesperson said the existing policing model had not changed since the 1960s and was no longer fit for purpose.