Thursday, July 13, 2006

Welcome for end to police mergers

A LEADING Liberal Democrat in Gateshead has welcomed the collapse of plans to merge local police authorities into a single regional super-force.

Government ministers announced on Thursday 12th July that the plans to merge forces in England had been axed following objections from police authorities, councils and residents.

Jonathan Wallace, Councillor for Whickham South and Sunniside, said, “There was a danger that local community policing could be lost if the mergers went ahead as the police authorities would have been more remote from the people they serve.

“There is every need for the different forces to work together on tackling large scale organised crime and terrorism, but that does not mean we have to go through the enormous expense of scrapping the existing system of police authorities and forces.”

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