‘SLASH FORCES’ PLAN ‘OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY’
Suggestions from a senior police figure that local forces should be replaced by ‘regional units’—and his dismissal of neighbourhood policing and efforts to put more officers on the street—have been described as ‘entirely out of the touch with reality and the views of the public’ by the Chair of Cleveland Police Authority.
Councillor Dave McLuckie said the comments from Sir Hugh Orde, the former Chief Constable of Northern Ireland and now President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), were an attempt to ‘once again enforce on areas such as Cleveland a remote regional structure—and perhaps eventually the alarming prospect of a national police force.’
In an interview in the Times Sir Hugh Orde is reported as suggesting that the number of forces in England Wales and Northern Ireland could be cut from the present level of 44 to as little nine—and he also argues that the debate on policing has been ‘hijacked by the ‘more cops on the street brigade .’
Said Councillor McLuckie “Given that Sir Hugh Orde’s entire police career was spent with the Metropolitan Police and then, of course, in Northern Ireland, I think it is inevitable that his experience of the issues and concerns of local communities in places such as Cleveland is limited.
“Of course he is correct to stress the need for dealing with terrorism and organised crime—but that must not be at the expense of having the local consent and accountability which is the very cornerstone of our policing system.
“If in his dismissive remarks about neighbouring policing he is criticising the policies adopted by authorities and forces such as Cleveland then I for one am certainly happy to be one of what he describes as the ‘more cops on the street brigade’ because we have proved that approach works.
“That is why we have consistently brought down crime over the past few years and why we enjoy one of the highest public confidence levels of any force in the country. We have achieved that, as one of the smaller forces nationally, because we have been committed to putting resources where the public want them to be...on the front line... and because we have been prepared to innovate and modernise in order to also invest in key protective services such as anti-terrorism and organised crime.
“It may be very different from the massive London Met or what is effectively a near national police force in Northern Ireland, but we have demonstrated that it is possible to meet the challenges of modern-day policing without losing that vital local connection and accountability.
“It would be a tragedy if once again we were forced to expend huge amounts of time, effort—and, of course, money—on a repetition of the merger debate when there is no evidence whatsoever to show that is what people want.”