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Mahmood unveils plans to reform ‘broken’ policing in England and Wales

Daniel Sandford and Thomas MackintoshUK correspondent

EPA Home Affairs Secretary Shabana Mahmood arrives at the BBC in London. He wears a turquoise jacket and has a black bag slung over his right shoulder.EPA

The home secretary has unveiled a plan to reform what he calls a “broken” model of policing in England and Wales.

Shabana Mahmood confirmed that the change would create a new National Police Service (NPS) to tackle the most complex cross-border crimes and would also see the number of local forces in England and Wales reduced by around two-thirds.

He told the House of Commons that he plans to make better use of technology, including the “largest ever rollout of facial recognition technology”.

“This government’s reforms will ensure that we have the right police force in the right place,” Mahmood said. he said.

“I have introduced reforms that are long overdue and defined a new model for policing in this country, where local policing protects our communities and national policing protects us all.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he would oppose the Conservative Party’s plans to join forces, saying “major powers will be away from the communities they serve and resources will go to cities”.

Philp blamed the Labor government for the drop in national police numbers, saying the home secretary’s statement was “striking for what it did not say”.

Mahmood previously announced his plans in November. get rid of elected Police and Crime Commissionersand recently talked about his plans create a “British FBI” He said this would free up forces to fight everyday crimes.

The Home Secretary also confirmed on Monday that he wanted this. create practice licenses for police officers It is similar to the one for doctors and would give him the power to fire a police chief for poor performance.

The proposed new NPS would bring together the existing National Crime Agency (NCA) and Counter Terrorism Policing.

It will also include some of the functions currently carried out by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the National Police Air Service (NPAS) and the Constabulary, and will be responsible for the delivery of a national forensic service.

Mahmood told Parliament that the NPS would be led by a National Police Commissioner responsible to the home affairs minister.

Officials say they hope to have the NPS fully operational by the next parliament.

Backing the proposed new NPS and its broader scope, Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency, said: “The threat is changing, becoming more complex and more interconnected.

“Terrorism, hostile state threats and organized crime gangs are increasingly overlapping.”

The plan to reduce force numbers stems from the desire to reduce duplication and reduce large disparities in performance between forces.

Scotland united Eight forces formed to form Police Scotland in April 2013. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) established In November 2001. It replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) as part of the Good Friday Agreement reforms.

A Home Office source told the BBC: “The charge rate for house burglary is 2.8% in Hertfordshire and 13% in South Wales. Where you live determines the service you receive from your agency.”

Home Office sources insist that reducing the size of the police force will not make policing less local.

Mahmood’s new proposals are titled “From Local to National: A New Model for Policing” and the aim is to provide a police services council ward based on council wards.

In a bid to help local police officers, the government is promising to eliminate “excessive” bureaucracy so that officers are no longer “fighting crime with one hand tied behind their back”.

The changes come as the Home Office says “public confidence in the police is declining” and “police performance is declining”.

Officials hope to pass legislation this parliament that will make police mergers easier and to achieve at least one “guideline” merger before the next election.

But they accept that the majority of mergers will happen in the next parliament.

Elsewhere, the Home Office is funding a further 40 vans with Live Facial Recognition after the technology proved successful in South Wales and London.

There are also plans to establish a new National Artificial Intelligence Center in policing.

The idea is to develop new AI tools to help police officers with things like reviewing CCTV footage and transcribing and editing documents.

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