POLICE FORCE MERGERS

Motion Text

That this House believes that the proposals to merge police forces within the South West region are impractical; notes that Devon and Cornwall Police will have 3,500 officers and 2,200 support staff by next March and so will be very close to the numbers set by the Home Secretary, that the geographical area covered is already vast and that a merger with either Dorset or Somerset and Avon would create a huge scattered force more remote from the communities it serves and unaccountable to them; and calls on the Government to confirm the continued existence of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.