Met Police Chief Warns of 43 Stretched Forces

43 overstretched forces are currently trying to do too much with too little, according to Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police. In a speech scheduled for Friday, the commissioner will argue that policing in England and Wales is heading for failure unless the system undergoes urgent reform. He states that the current structure is unable to cope with the sophistication of modern criminals.

Rowley proposes a major overhaul that would replace the existing 43-force structure with three distinct tiers. This new system would consist of eight to 10 regional police forces, supported by hundreds of local policing commands and a new National Police Service. Local teams would handle neighborhood issues, while regional forces would share specialist resources. The National Police Service would tackle the most serious crimes, a structure that would mark the biggest change since the 1960s.

The commissioner cites organized crime groups, fraud networks, and cyber-criminals as key drivers for this change. He notes that these groups increasingly operate across regional and international borders, while police forces remain organized around local areas. Rowley believes merging forces would reduce duplication and free up thousands of roles for front-line policing. He points to financial pressures, noting that spending on policing has fallen from about 0.9% of GDP to 0.7% since 2010.

These proposals follow a consultation launched by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in January. That consultation included plans for a National Police Service and a possible merger of the 43 forces into fewer, larger entities. A Home Office spokesperson defended the plans, stating that the current model has not changed since the 1960s and is no longer fit for purpose. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has not yet commented on the proposals.

However, some rural police and crime commissioners have described the plans as political maneuvering by larger forces to load the dice in their favor. The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the APCC, has also questioned whether merging forces is the best way to improve policing. The APCC stated that the case for a National Police Service is clear, but the case for reducing 43 forces to nine regional mega-forces is not.

Rowley will also point to falling police performance in his speech. He says positive outcomes nationally are now less than half the level they were 12 years ago. Public confidence has fallen by 9% during that same period. He argues that years of underinvestment have left forces relying on ageing technology. Officers are increasingly diverted from neighborhood policing to deal with other demands, including mental health and social care.