Policing reform plan is a 'recipe for disaster'

Plans to dramatically slash the number of police forces in England and Wales are a "recipe for disaster", a policing chief has said.

Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, has proposed the current 43-force structure is cut to between eight and 10 regional constabularies.

He said the existing system could not cope with modern criminality and needed urgent reform.

Reacting to the proposal, Roger Hirst, the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner for Essex, said Sir Mark's idea was not fit for purpose.

"A model of nine forces, all the size of the Met, is a model which is a recipe for disaster. It will take local accountability away," he told BBC Essex.

Hirst said there was no evidence that "mega forces" did a better job than regional police organisations.

"I just don't see that making it one-size-fits-all, taking away the local accountability, taking away the local links, is a solution," he added.

Sir Mark's overhaul would represent the biggest overhaul in policing since the 1960s if it went ahead.

Three tiers would be created: local teams dealing with neighbourhood issues, regional forces sharing specialist resources and a National Police Service tackling the most serious crimes.

The idea was first floated in January and won support from officers, but has been on pause since Andy Burnham became prime minister in July.

Sir Mark said forces were "overstretched" and merging them would reduce duplication.

However, Hirst, who earns £91,600 per year in his role, remains a fierce critic.

"Sir Mark says that you can't have the specialist expertise in other forces, unless they're as big as the Met – it's just not true," he said.

"The really important bit here is that we have police services which are accountable to their local populations.

"[Sir Mark's proposal] isn't the same as it's going to be across the entire country."

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