Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned that unless the ‘incoherent’ force structure in England and Wales is sorted, policing will fail
Sir Mark Rowley issued a dire warning as he said the current structure is not working(Image: Metropolitan Police)
Britain’s top cop has warned policing will fail if the number of “hollowed out” forces is not slashed.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the current structure in England and Wales is “incoherent” and must be reformed. He warned that 43 forces are “trying to do too much with too little” – and said their number should be reduced to as little as eight.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to launch the biggest reset of policing in 200 years, creating a ‘British FBI’ while demanding chiefs tackle local crime.
Sir Mark said in a speech in Manchester: “There comes a point when the world evolves beyond the ability of the systems built to service it. British policing has reached that point once again.
“And there’s a very real risk to the public if we don’t urgently reform to meet that challenge. In short, and it hurts me to say this, policing will fail.”
The police chief went on: “The cause of our current problems is that policing has tried to keep up and do the best it can to patch over our broken model. But that model is creaking.
“We have 43 overstretched police forces trying to do too much with too little, an incoherent national landscape of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing, National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, together with a patchwork of critical national services hosted by individual forces…
“Forces are now so hollowed out by these convoluted arrangements that we now rely on nine regional and many bilateral collaborations to provide capabilities such as major crime investigation and armed policing.”
He paid tribute to hardworking police officers keeping the streets safe, but said: “I want to be frank today – despite our incredible people, the service that we provide is often not what it should be, and is at serious risk of degrading further.
“We can see the impact on our streets. We are solving less crime nationally. Positive outcome rates are now less than half they were 12 years ago.
“The public see fewer officers, just 11% reporting an officer or PCSO on foot patrol each week—in 2011, that was 39%. Public confidence has fallen, public satisfaction has fallen.
“And these aren’t unique to a handful of forces – even the best-performing forces solve only 22% of crimes, with only 58% of the public saying they do a good job locally. And because crime doesn’t fall evenly, and serious incidents don’t occur where the capability exists to tackle them, forces can sometimes find themselves overwhelmed and bent out of shape very quickly.”
In January Ms Mahmood set out proposals to reform the police service for the 21st century. This includes setting up a National Police Service and allowing larger, regional forces to focus on local crime.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our current model of policing has not changed since the 1960s and is no longer fit for purpose.
“A structural overhaul is overdue, and we will deliver the most radical reform of policing in 200 years. Our reforms will deliver strong local policing focused on neighbourhood crime, more resilient forces providing specialist capabilities to tackle serious and complex crime threats, and a National Police Service tackling national and cross-border threats.”
Ms Mahmood is reviewing recommendations by one of Sir Mark’s predecessors, Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe, on how to restructure policing in England and Wales.
The Home Office said this will guarantee responsive local policing. The funding formula for forces is also currently being reviewed.
