County police chief’s warning to our force

Olly Martins claims that proposed cuts run the risk of making the nearby Bedfordshire Police force unviable, and wrote to Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Anthony Stansfeld to hammer home the impact that this will have on his own force.
PCC Olly Martins with PCSO Narzia AhmedPCC Olly Martins with PCSO Narzia Ahmed
PCC Olly Martins with PCSO Narzia Ahmed

Mr Martins said: “Criminals and terrorists do not respect police force boundaries and Thames Valley boarders Bedfordshire.

“In the event that Bedfordshire Police becomes unviable, there may be pressure for Thames Valley Police to be merged with/take over the force.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This effect will be to either shift police from your constituency to Bedfordshire, or to raise the police precept paid by your constituents to fill Bedfordshire’s financial shortfall, or probably a combination of the two.

“By head of population, Bedfordshire has the 4th highest level of gun crime, 5th highest level of serious acquisitive crime and 7th highest level of knife crime amongst the 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales.

“In addition the county has amongst the highest level of terror threat and abnormally high number of organised crime groups.”

This week commissioners met for a debate on the issues faced by forces who are facing significant cuts to their government funding. Mr Martins urged Mr Stansfeld to use the debate to press the government on the issue.