Local police force faces merger (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Local police force faces merger

THERE are fears for the future of Gloucestershire Constabulary this week after a leaked Home Office memo suggested it could be merged with another force.

The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has hinted at radical reforms to cut the number of forces in the country from 43 to 30 in an attempt to make crime fighting more effective.

The move would be made to strengthen leadership in the forces nationwide and secure economies of scale, reforms that could lead to some smaller forces in the country being axed or merged with other constabularies.

However, any such merger would be damaging to the future of policing in the Cotswolds and the wider county, according to Dr Timothy Brain, Gloucestershire Constabulary's chief constable.

He said: "There has been a lot of speculation on this topic but we don't see a case for amalgamation in Gloucestershire.

"We've demonstrated our ability to deal with serious, organised and major crime in the past and we have the capability to do it in the future.

"My big concern would be the creation of longer lines of communication for the public and also members of the constabulary, difficulties of integration and the set-up costs.

"All this would mean taking our eye off the ball at a time of increased national security and organised crime."

Nineteen forces in England and Wales have fewer than 2,000 officers each and are likely to be candidates for amalgamation.

But opponents of the HMIC proposals will argue that merging or scrapping smaller forces will diminish accountability.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke is due to meet with police authorities and chief constables on Monday to discuss the proposals.

Brig Michael Browne, chairman of Gloucester police authority, said: "We won't know anything until Monday, but we could be swept up into the overall reform and we would resist that.

"The reason the proposals are being put forward is because there is a level of crime not being dealt with, but it's not true of Gloucestershire.

"We can handle serious crime and the advantage of economies of scale don't really apply to us."