'Our rural communities will be more at risk' - Ex-West Mercia police chief’s warning over force merger
Sharon Gibbons, deputy mayor of Pershore Town Council and a former chief inspector with West Mercia Police, believes ‘mergers of public services rarely benefit residents’
A former police chief says plans to merge two forces will leave rural communities more at risk.
Government proposals to reduce the number of police forces in England from 43 to 12 would see West Mercia Police merged with West Midlands Police.
Ministers say the changes will make the police more efficient but Liberal Democrats in Worcestershire are worried that resources will be centralised into cities, leaving rural crime and neighbourhood policing underfunded.
Sharon Gibbons, deputy mayor of Pershore Town Council and a former chief inspector with West Mercia Police, said: “Local policing works best when it is rooted in the communities it serves.
“A force covering both rural Worcestershire and central Birmingham faces fundamentally different demands, and a one-size-fits-all approach risks failing both.”
She pointed to the previous “Strategic Alliance” between West Mercia and Warwickshire Police, which ultimately collapsed and cost £10 million to dissolve.
Cllr Gibbons said: “We’ve seen other mergers of public services that rarely benefit residents.
“The creation of large regional ambulance trusts, including the West Midlands Ambulance Service, was sold on similar promises of co-ordination and efficiency.
“Yet the service has faced persistent failures in response times and rightly, staff morale has collapsed.
“Worcestershire residents have experienced this first-hand.
“Policing carries similar risks and these proposals will leave our rural communities even more at risk.”
West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) John Campion also raised concerns about public involvement in the process.
Mr Campion said: “I recognise the need to modernise and improve policing; however, it is right that any significant reform undertaken has the public support.
“I am concerned that the proposals to merge our existing police forces into fewer, but larger, police areas will be done with a perceived lack of public opinion.
“Given that this is affecting a service our hardworking tax-paying public pay for, it is right that they are consulted.
“I therefore want to give communities the opportunity to have their say and allow them to understand what these proposals mean for them.”
A public consultation on the proposed changes is currently being carried out by the PCC.
Feedback from the consultation will be presented to Government as part of its national review of police force structures.