The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police has praised the Home Secretary for taking the “bull by the horns” with plans for an overhaul of policing which he said were a “long time coming.”
Reacting to Shabana Mahmood’s proposals, which include slashing the number of police forces and creating a new National Police Service (NPS) to tackle major crimes, Sir Stephen Watson said: ” I think the Home Secretary has properly taken the bull by the horns. These are bold announcements in respect of the reform, which to policing is literally decades in the coming.”
He said the current system, with 43 forces accountable to 43 people, was “not efficient or effective”.
Sir Stephen added: “I applaud the home secretary’s courage in bringing forward what are bold proposals. I don’t think it before time, and I think that when we talk in the language of once in a lifetime, generational, transformational change in policing. That is precisely what this is, and that, for me, is very exciting, and certainly it is due.”
He said he was “reasonably relaxed” about plans which would see the Home Secretary given the ability to sack chief constables.
“The Home Secretary is accountable for much of what happens in policing’s name across the country, and if their determination is that they need to take powers in very, very rare circumstances to dispense with the services of chief constable, then that will be a decision of our democratically elected politicians,” he said.
Sir Stephen described an emphasis on local policing areas as “really important” but developments such as the advent of cyber crime and a more mobile society meant structures needed to change.
He said: “There is something genuinely old fashioned about policing services that reflect a world that is no longer as it might have been 50 or 60 years ago and that’s literally what we’re talking about in terms of the current policing construct.”
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson has praised Andy Burnham’s work as mayor, but declined to comment on whether he would make a good Prime Minister.
Asked what he made of the past few days, when the Greater Manchester mayor was denied permission to run for election as an MP, Sir Stephen said: “These are matters politics, not for chief constables to opine on.
“All I would say about Andy Burnham is that in the constructs of Greater Manchester Police, Andy Burnham has been a very fine mayor. He’s been very supportive of Greater Manchester Police, and I’m delighted that he will continue to do so.”
