Thursday, April 06, 2006

Size Isn't Everything: Restructuring Policing in England and Wales / Policy Exchange, April 2006

PDF - http://digbig.com/4hbms
Barry Loveday
"Argues against the government's plans to amalgamate the 43 police forces of England and Wales into 17 larger ones.
Since small forces perform at least as well as big, and since amalgamations would reduce accountability and take resources from neighbourhood policing, the government should abandon this misguided attempt to introduce regional government by the back door. Instead, the government should allow forces voluntarily to federate where necessary, extend the remit of national policing agencies and/or re-establish Regional Serious Crime Squads, devolve more responsibilities to Basic Command Units, and make them genuinely accountable to local communities. "