London police chief calls for 'mega' forces to cut costs

The commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley on Sunday called for major reforms to the United Kingdom's policing model, saying it "hasn't been fit for purpose for at least two decades."

The call comes amid falling public confidence in law enforcement in Britain and as police forces struggle to overcome years of austerity.

What did Mark Rowley say?

Writing in The Sunday Times, Rowley called for the 43 police forces in England and Wales to be shrunk into 12-15 regional forces.

The Met chief said some of the forces were "too small to operate," while governance, leadership and support functions had become "ever more expensive."

Rowley complained that investment in new technologies to aid law enforcement had been "politically deprioritized" in favour of maintaining a high number of police officers, which he said made it harder to keep up with modern criminals.

"It [That policy] hinders the effective confrontation of today's threats and stops us fully reaping the benefits of technology," Rowley added.

The Met chief said larger regional forces would make better use of limited funding, required due to the state of Britain's public finances.

Rowley also called for the creation of a national policing body and better use of police staff, including more specialist support.

Unlike Germany and France, the UK doesn't have a national police agency, although the national crime agency (NCA), which has responsibility for tackling serious and organized crime, does operate UK-wide.

England and Wales have 43 police forces, including London's metropolitan police and greater manchester police, while Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own national police forces.

UK police forces underfunded and understaffed

The UK's police forces remained weakened by a decade of austerity following the 2008/9 financial crisis.

Police funding was cut by almost a fifth nationally and police officer numbers were cut by 20,000.

Although this number has since been restored, several police forces remain financially strained due to years of underinvestment.

The national police chief's council warned last year that police forces were facing a £3.2 billion (€3.7 billion, $4.4 billion) funding shortfall at a time of rising operational costs.

Despite the UK government promising to hike police funding by 2.3 percent above inflation each year in a recent spending review, police insiders believe the extra cash will plug gaps rather than fund new initiatives.

Organized crime, knife crime a major issue

The police funding crisis comes as the UK faces an increased threat from organized crime, including drug and human trafficking, immigration offenses and cyberattacks.

Outdated police intelligence infrastructure means that UK police forces often struggle with the scale and sophistication of these crime networks, according to police leaders and government reports.

Other worsening public safety issues are: knife crime, particularly among young people, often fueled by drug dealing, as well as the exploitation of children and other vulnerable individuals by drug gangs to sell narcotics.

The government of prime minister Keir Starmer has also made violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse, sexual offenses, and stalking, a major police priority.

However, public trust in policing is at historic lows due to the underfunding, along with high-profile scandals, such as racism, misogyny, and misconduct within police forces.

In the most fwell-known recent case, Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old London woman, was kidnapped, raped, and murdered in March 2021 by a serving Metropolitan Police officer, who abused his authority to deceive her.