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Too many police chiefs? - A review of police strength and costs in England & Wales 2010

SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS - THE PROS AND CONS OF FORCE MERGERS Lessons from reform

History is littered with failed police reform attempting to either increase efficiency or accountability. In 1828 Robert Peel advocated a single national force but was resisted by MPs with strong local interests. He was allowed control of the Metropolitan Police only; oversight of policing in the rest of the country was left to the local watch committees. Subsequent Home Secretaries have made other radical attempts at reform. But in many cases it is senior officers who have frustrated their progress.

A new deal with Chief Constables

Any realistic police reform must attract the support of Chief Constables. Their powerful position and lackof accountability is one of the key defects of the current structure; equally, it gives them what amounts to a veto on reform. The new deal for Chief Constables is a quid pro quo – greater independence from Home Office direction in return for greater accountability.

Why Previous Merger Plans failed

Charles Clarke’s proposed “superforce” model failed for two reasons: it angered those opposed to regional integration on the basis that it would have incurred significant cost. The then Home Secretary proposed the merging of the 43 forces into 12 “superforces” to generate economies of scale and centres of expertise. This was a hugely unpopular proposal and Police Authorities refused to cooperate. At the most basic level, it advocated replacing 43 forces delimited by arbitrary boundaries with 12 forces, delimited by equally arbitrary boundaries. This would result in efficiencies, as described earlier, but it was argued that it would not solve the fundamental problem of force cooperation and would result in even less local connection and accountability than the current system offers.

Opposition from the Treasury finally scotched the plan where local support had been secured. Merger talks between the Lancashire and Cumbria forces failed when it became clear that the Treasury would not provide the necessary finance. Funding would have to be secured by raising council tax. This led ACPO, the major police body in favour of mergers, to conclude that mergers would not take place. How times have changed . . . It is now ACPO who are pushing for the merger proposals. It is likely that the proposal would be criticised for being to some extent politically motivated: a Home Secretary can liaise with 12 Chief Constables much more easily than with 43. Priorities have shifted dramatically down the years, and all the indicators suggest that force mergers are an inevitable part of the future of policing.

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