Thousands of Hertfordshire residents reject police mega-force plans

Findings released by Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner show that 68% of respondents oppose police mergers and just 15% supported them.

It was also revealed by the PCC’s office that 3,697 residents participated in the consultation on police mergers.

In January the Home Office revealed it was looking to overhaul the policing system in the UK by merging police forces to create larger regional operations among the headline changes it was seeking.

It was revealed that England and Wales 43 forces could be merged into 12 larger organisations. The Government did not disclose which forces would merge together if the overhaul went ahead.

In the White Paper released by the Home Office it is argued that the policing system in the country needs to be “modernised” to deal with the changing sophistication with which crimes are being committed. The home secretary argues that the policing system is “outdated” and “struggling”.

However, Hertfordshire’s PCC Jonathan Ash-Edwards argues that the survey findings prove that the county’s residents believe a merger would weaken local policing.

His office revealed the most common concerns recorded were the idea that local policing policies might be sidelined due to regional priorities, that police officers would become less connected to the areas they serve, response times may increase to emergency incidents, and there could be fewer visible patrols in neighbourhoods.

Commissioner Ash-Edwards said: “Over three and a half thousand Hertfordshire residents have now had their say and the message is loud and clear. People want policing that is local, accountable and focused on the communities it serves.

"Bigger does not mean better. Huge regional police forces will be slower to respond, less interested in local priorities, harder to hold to account and more likely to divert resources away from neighbourhood policing.

"Hertfordshire residents are telling me they do not want decisions affecting their county being made further away. They do not want local priorities competing with those of much larger areas, and they do not want resources pulled into higher crime cities and big urban centres while towns and rural communities are left behind.

"I will now write to the home secretary setting out Hertfordshire’s clear opposition to these plans and sharing the consultation findings in full. I am also calling on the new Prime Minister to listen to residents, scrap these merger plans and focus instead on cutting crime, catching more criminals and keeping communities safe.

"Top-down public sector mergers are expensive, distracting and rarely deliver the savings and benefits promised. The Government should drop these plans before time and money are wasted on a reorganisation that the public neither asked for nor supports.”

An independent review is being carried out to assess how police forces in England and Wales can be run most effectively.