Police Forces England and Wales

[JohnKelly]

Chief Inspector of Constabulary Warns Over Fragile 43 Force Model.

In his final State of Policing assessment, Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor – who leaves the HMICFRS at the end of this month – has praised the efforts of officers and staff, but highlighted significant concerns including the fragility of the 43-force model in England and Wales - Source: Policing Insight.

Given that Scotland amalgamated all of its Police Forces into one now known as Police Scotland my thinking is that it is only a matter of time before England and Wales follow in the same way.

https://www.policesuccess.co.uk/forces.html

[JohnKelly]

Wales' four police forces should be scrapped and replaced with a single nationwide service, according to Dyfed-Powys Police's new chief constable.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60901593

[Aspiring Bobby]

Yes, it is an interesting idea.
Personally I would do two/three things:

• Firstly - merge the 39 into one English national civilian force
• Sedondly - merge the 4 Welsh into a national civilian force
• Thirdly - de-merge all PCSOs, CEOs, parking attendants, council wardens, CSAS etc, into a local police force that is part of the local authority.

The locals would have full powers, in their area only. Nationals armed and national powers.

That way you have a national police for response and serious crime and local officers for local work.

[JohnKelly]

Yes, it is an interesting idea.
Personally I would do two/three things:

• Firstly - merge the 39 into one English national civilian force
• Sedondly - merge the 4 Welsh into a national civilian force
• Thirdly - de-merge all PCSOs, CEOs, parking attendants, council wardens, CSAS etc, into a local police force that is part of the local authority.

The locals would have full powers, in their area only. Nationals armed and national powers.

That way you have a national police for response and serious crime and local officers for local work.

I find it interesting browsing through the UK Police Forces individual websites, particularly those who are outside the realm of the Home Office such as various Port Authority Police Forces, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Ministry of Defence Police.

I support the view of many serving police officers in the UK that PCSO's (Police Community Support Officers) were introduced as a cheap form of policing, no disrespects to serving PCSO's intended.

Special Constables are a different story although I can never understand why one would want to do such a job as a volunteer without payment.

Anyhow, best wishes on your desire to join the job.

Cheers.

[CCCSD]

What training tdo PCSOs go through? Hiring standards? Jurisdiction?

[Aspiring Bobby]

I find it interesting browsing through the UK Police Forces individual websites, particularly those who are outside the realm of the Home Office such as various Port Authority Police Forces, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and the Ministry of Defence Police.

I support the view of many serving police officers in the UK that PCSO's (Police Community Support Officers) were introduced as a cheap form of policing, no disrespects to serving PCSO's intended.

Special Constables are a different story although I can never understand why one would want to do such a job as a volunteer without payment.

Anyhow, best wishes on your desire to join the job.

Cheers.

Yes, I have always found the UK and the US really interesting, with regards to law enforcement / policing.

Yes, there are many and varied, although much less well-known than some of the US ones.

There are even about four cathedral constabularies!

Thanks, appreciate it.

[Aspiring Bobby]

What training tdo PCSOs go through? Hiring standards? Jurisdiction?

So, they go through decent training course, probably about five to ten weeks is the average.

The main thing with PCSOs is that each force determines the training, powers and role. I.e. unlike a constable one force PCSO might be quite different to another.

Jurisdiction is normally just in their force area and only whilst in uniform (main difference with a constable).
Hiring standards, normal stuff, no serious criminal record, basic fitness test (bleep test level 5.4) and of course interview(s).

Some forces give them handcuffs, but only a few forces do this (but all can in law).

[JohnKelly]

Wales' four police forces should be scrapped and replaced with a single nationwide service, according to Dyfed-Powys Police's new chief constable.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-60901593

More on All Wales Police Force,

https://nation.cymru/news/plaid-cymru-call-for-all-wales-police-force-to-foster-better-policing-culture/

[Cockney Corner.]

Firstly - merge the 39 into one English national civilian force... merge the 4 Welsh into a national civilian ...merge all PCSOs, CEOs, parking attendants, council wardens, CSAS etc, into a local police force that is part of the local authority

This does sound rather like something that looks better on paper than in reality. I have no huge objection to a national force (being able to immediately access every force's crimes and intel would be handy) but, in England at least, there is a high degree of cooperation anyway and given the large size of existing forces, it is relatively easy to shift resources around at short notice. Plus there is a bit of risk of officers all draining into England Nice Bit rather than staying and policing England Sh*t Hole if they could move anywhere (you can of course presently transfer, but it is a heck of a lot easier to do so internally than externally).

The notion of forming one Welsh Police/Heddlu Cymru (I've no doubt that isn't correct in Welsh) seems attractive but North Wales Police receive an awful lot of business from Merseyside in England and a heck of a lot less from South Wales (if you don't know the area, it's much, much easier to travel from North Wales to South Wales via England than by, just driving north/south). In purely Policing terms, it would likely make more sense to amalgamate South Wales and Avon & Somerset (English) into super forces and North Wales and Merseyside/Cheshire (English). But that wouldn't look neat, as so often things in life are not,