Independent think tank Reform calls for regional police forces to be split and the Metropolitan Police to be given a mandate to run serious crime fighting across England and Wales.
Without effective police reform, England and Wales will lose the fight against crime in years to come. Serious crime is rising and mutating as new crimes emerge such as people trafficking and internet fraud, creating entrenched social problems. But the nightmare position of the public finances means that the police’s extravagant spending increases over the last decade cannot be sustained and will in all likelihood be reversed. The police in England and Wales are the most expensive in the developed world – costing a fifth higher as a share of GDP than in America.
