OLD Harlow councillor, Joel Charles has responded to the publication of the Police Reform White Paper:

Councillor Charles (Cons) said: “The Government intends to radically shake up the way policing is delivered across England and Wales. A new National Police Service will be established to, at first, set standards and then eventually take control of all national crime fighting responsibilities. Stripping county forces of their serious organised crime units would be a mistake. Moving to a model of central control runs the risk of reducing the ability to build up the local intelligence picture of organised crime activity.

“This type of top-down reorganisation could prove to be a costly exercise. My main concern is the potential severing of existing connections between forces and the communities they serve.

“The partnership between police officers and the neighbourhoods that make up Harlow has strengthened recently, but that work could be lost if the new reforms are introduced. There is also an issue about how long the proposed changes will take to be implemented. 2034 has been briefed as the target year to complete the reorganisation – that means there will be nearly a decade of uncertainty.

“It will be important to fully consider the detail contained in the Police Reform White Paper in the coming days and weeks ahead. There should be no rush to spend public funds on a reorganisation that could potentially have a negative impact on the ability to deliver visible and responsive policing where it matters.

“I oppose the plan to mandate the merger of county forces into remote regional mega constabularies. There is no evidence that such a nationwide merger plan will cut crime or improve performance.”

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/from-local-to-national-a-new-model-for-policing