Crime chief warns merger of Cambridgeshire police force could bring 'chaos and disruption'

The alarm has been sounded by Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston as concerns grow that the county’s police force could be combined with another police region.

While there are no further details about the proposals announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood earlier this year, it is thought any merger could see Cambridgeshire join Bedfordshire or Hertfordshire police forces.

All three forces currently share some specialised operational units, support services, and digital systems, including the road policing unit, firearms and explosives licensing and special operations.

Mr Preston said: “I support any reform that strengthens national capabilities and specialist expertise.

"But merging local forces into so-called ‘super’ forces is not the answer.

"This will bring nothing but chaos and disruption and will take years to organise.

Mr Preston said: “We have worked hard to build trust and confidence within our local communities.

"To now dismantle those hard-won and well-established relationships with residents would be a serious mistake, weakening the local connections on which effective community policing depends.

“Far from improving local services such as neighbourhood policing, this will result in even more remote delivery.”

A major concern for Mr Preston is that the creation of larger forces focused around urban areas risks slower response times in rural areas such as Cambridgeshire.

He says there is also the risk of losing local knowledge and creation weaker local policing and a poor service for residents.

Mr Preston warned that rather than diverting staff to work on reorganisation they should be left to focus on catching criminals.