Yorkshire Police Merger - Case Study Example

West Yorkshire Police Merger Running head: West Yorkshire Police feel about the merger How did the West Yorkshire Police Feel About the Merger Author (TO BE FILLED BY YOU) Author Affiliation (TO BE FILLED BY YOU) West Yorkshire Police Merger 2 Abstract Merger of the North Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police, East Yorkshire Police and the South Yorkshire Police into one unit was proposed in the first half of 2006. The West Yorkshire Police were against the merger. I shall analyze the feeling of the West Yorkshire Police by referring to interviews given by Councilor Mark Burns-Williamson (Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority) and those conducted by John Cundy of BBC Look North Crime Correspondent and also analyzing an online survey that was open to the residents of Yorkshire asking them their opinion about the merger. West Yorkshire Police Merger 3 How did the West Yorkshire Police Feel About the Merger Merger of the North Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police, East Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police into one unit was proposed in the first half of 2006. Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson, Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, following the Authority Meeting on 20 December 2005, was quoted: "At the Authority meeting today, Members considered in detail the options for restructuring police forces in Yorkshire and Humberside, and decided to support submission of a business case to the Home Secretary that recommended West Yorkshire Police continue as a strategic force in its own right. "Members have looked closely at the two options deemed acceptable by the Home Secretary, a merger with North Yorkshire or the creation of a single regional force. It was felt that either option would have significant disadvantages for the people of West Yorkshire, including an increase in council tax for no apparent benefit. Members were also concerned about a short-term drop in performance and a weakening of accountability and governance structures due to the size of the proposed new force areas. Reports from both the Authority and the Force reflect the feeling that the creation of a single regional force would be particularly bad for West Yorkshire. "The Authority attempted to resolve these concerns with Ministers prior to this meeting but have yet to receive appropriate reassurances. Whilst the Authority fully accepts the need for the policing service to provide an adequate level of protective services to all citizens, it feels there may be other options which would achieve the same outcomes but with fewer penalties for the people of West Yorkshire. The West Yorkshire option is the only one we could agree to support at this stage based on known costs, performance and other criteria. Voluntary agreement for anything else will only be considered at a later date." (West Yorkshire Police Authority, Press Releases, 20th December 2005) West Yorkshire Police Merger 4 On the 12th of July 2006, the Home Office announced that it was revising plans to merge police forces in England and Wales. Police Authorities will be given more time and freedom to come up with plans to improve protective services, without requiring amalgamations this commended by the police minister, Tony McNulty Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson, Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, said he was delighted with the announcement. "It is well known that members of the Police Authority were not in favor of the proposed merger with the other three forces in the region. Our principal objection was about the impact on council taxpayers in West Yorkshire, who would have to pay more for little extra benefit. The difficulty around the equalisation of council tax precepts generally has been one of the factors which has led to the announcement today." Mark Burns-Williamson continued, "It's important to remember though, that the merger plans were the result of the HMIC report about the inability of many forces to deliver protective services such as counter-terrorism and extremism, serious organized and cross-border crime and public order. Whilst West Yorkshire Police is large enough to provide these services, this problem still exists across the region as a whole. Work has already begun to establish collaborative working arrangements for some protective services by the four forces in this region. I was able to speak personally with Tony McNulty after he made the announcement about restructure this morning. He was very supportive of the work we have started with the other three police authorities in the region. We are presently developing a joint committee to provide proper governance and accountability arrangements for the collaborative working that we feel is necessary. We intend to continue this work, so that the delivery of protective services can be strengthened right across the region." (West Yorkshire Police Authority, Press Releases, 12th July 2006) West Yorkshire Police Merger 5 Some the reasons given by the West Yorkshire Police for them being against the merger were: 1. Central control does not deliver more effective policing - There is little evidence that the centralized approaches to policing adopted in the UK, France and Netherlands have delivered improvements in fighting crime or providing public reassurance. 2. Local control makes policing more responsive, innovative, efficient and accountable - 3. Experience shows that police forces, which operate under the control of locally elected officials, are more responsive to local demands, more innovative in developing new policing strategies, and deliver a higher level of uniformed presence on the streets. 4. There is no evidence that large forces are more effective than small forces at fighting crime and providing public reassurance - Growing doubts about police force amalgamations are justified. Larger police forces are more likely to divert resources into the creation of specialist teams, and as a result appear to have greater difficulty in sustaining visible policing than smaller forces. 5. Local police forces should be accountable to local communities - Police forces responsible for maintaining public order and fighting crime in a defined local community should report to and be overseen by an authority that is elected by that community. This authority should set the targets, priorities and budgets that it feels are appropriate. John Cundy of BBC Look North Crime Correspondent reported on, "Lessons to Learn on Police Merger", analyzed some of the reasons of the West Yorkshire Police being against the merger. He reported, rebellion was in the air as police in England and Wales faced their biggest shake-up for more than 30 years. In Yorkshire and the Humber, the government says it wants to merge North, West and South Yorkshire and Humberside Police into one new super force. A change of home secretary may West Yorkshire Police Merger 6 mean that the sweeping changes to police forces could be delayed, but change there is going to be. In Yorkshire and the Humber, 1,300 police officers and 8,000 police civilian workers would be affected. A budget of some 1bn pounds is likely. Critics of the scheme, and there are many, say the mergers would be costly, confusing, unnecessary and ineffective. While the government claimed that super forces are the only way to combat modern crime, including terrorism. While critics point to loss of officers and other jobs, and say the whole exercise was only to save money. Retired Head of South Yorkshire CID, Michael Burdis, claimed that super forces would be a disaster in losing local contact with the public. He cites experiences during his career of previous police amalgamations of the 60s and 70s. Thus there was more opposition than support for mergers amongst the West Yorkshire Police officials. Members of Parliament from all the major parties are voicing objections. Labour backbencher John Grogan, from Selby, says if it comes to it, there will be easily enough opposition to defeat the government plan of the merger of he North Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police, East Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police into one unit in the House of Commons. Due to the vast amount of opposition against the proposed merger it looked like a tough autumn for the new Home Secretary if he tries to push the mergers through as presently proposed. (BBC News, Lessons to learn on police Merger, 2006) The best of method of collecting data depends on our individual needs. In my case I greatly relied on the interviews given by Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson and those conducted by John Cundy. As the West Yorkshire Police wanted the residents of Yorkshire to participate with them to work against the proposed merger, thus on the 23rd of May, 2006, West West Yorkshire Police Merger 7 Yorkshire Police Authority, which oversees policing on behalf of the public, announced that it was giving people a chance to have their say about the proposed police merger which would see West Yorkshire Police being amalgamated with the other three forces in the region. People expressed their views through the Authority's website www.wypa.org, in the form of an e-survey which asks up to five questions and will only take a minute or two to answer. The second is a more detailed questionnaire, was downloaded from the website and posted back to the Authority using a Freepost address once completed. The surveys were live until mid-June and the feedback received was summarized and showed the objection of the West Yorkshire residents to the proposed mergers. Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson, Chair of the Police Authority, said: "Members of the Authority voted unanimously against the Home Office proposal to merge the four forces in Yorkshire and Humberside. We are now in the period where objections can be submitted to the Home Secretary and the Authority is working on its response. The views that we receive from the two surveys will add weight to our arguments against the merger and I hope that as many people as possible will visit our website to take part." (West Yorkshire Police, Tell us Your Views, 23rd May 2006) Thus the research clearly shows that the West Yorkshire Police were unhappy with the proposed merger that was going to happen in 2006 and would want to function as a stand-alone police force rather than a super police force combined with North Yorkshire Police, East Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Police. West Yorkshire Police Merger 8 References: 1. West Yorkshire Police Authority, Press Releases [Last Updated 20th December 2005] [online] Available from: 2. West Yorkshire Police Authority, Press Releases [Last Updated 12th July 2006] [online] Available from: 3.BBC News, Lessons to learn on police Merger [Last Updated 2006] [online] Available from: 4. West Yorkshire Police, Yorks and Humberside Police [Last Updated 14th September 2006] [online] Available from: 5. West Yorkshire Police, Tell us Your Views [Last Updated 23rd May 2006] [online] Available from: Read More