Hertfordshire PCC criticises government's policing reform proposals
Jonathan Ash-Edwards believes that merging police forces will not solve problems.
Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner Jonathan Ash-Edwards said cutting the number of police forces would not solve the daily problems that officers face.
"Bigger does not mean better. Huge regional police forces will be slower to respond, less interested in local priorities, harder to hold to account and more likely to divert resources away from neighbourhood policing."
"Our policing model is not perfect, which public service is? But it is fundamentally wedded to the communities that it serves. Local, accountable policing matters."
"Regional forces will see resources pulled into cities and big urban centres, leaving towns and rural areas with scraps."
"Time and time again, taxpayers see that top-down public sector reorganisations and mergers are expensive, distracting and rarely deliver the savings and benefits promised."