Police Force Mergers?

I am not fundamentally opposed to some form of merger of police forces in the East Midlands. For those of us who work closely with the police we recognise that criminals do not observe county boundaries and that increasingly much crime is becoming more sophisticated. This government has at the same time been much more committed to genuine local community policing and thanks to the record levels of police officers and no the introduction of Community Support Officers this is now a genuine possibility. I know in my own constituency we now have levels of policing to allow genuine beat police officers designated to local patches. In the past it has always been nominal because many officers were removed to deal with incidents elsewhere. because of genuine neighbourhood level accountability there is an argument that the County structure is not so important. My concern remains about the cost of the model. I need to be shown clearly that any cost implications can be met by savings before I give this project my wholehearted support.

So I will continue to meet and discuss this issue with Ministers, fellow MPs, the Chief Constable and police officers Representatives in the county. I have had no representations from the public on this matter but would welcome any expressions of interest.