The United Kingdom's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled the country's biggest policing overhaul in almost two centuries on Monday, as she revealed plans for a new National Police Service, similar in style to the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a reduction in the number of regional police services through mergers.

Currently, UK policing is divided into 43 regional forces in England and Wales, known as constabularies, with Scotland and Northern Ireland each being overseen by their own bodies, Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, respectively.

The new service, known as the NPS, will have one national police chief, who will be above the current most senior police officer in the country — the commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, known as the Met.

By the end of the next Parliament, the current 43 constabularies will be reduced to somewhere between 10 and 20, with local commanders retaining control for regionalized responsibilities, and issues of national concern and threat — requiring a bigger-picture policing strategy — coming under the remit of the NPS.

It is hoped that the reallocation of resources and responsibilities will free up local police services to deal with smaller-scale crime, such as shoplifting and antisocial behavior, which have seen sharp increases over the past 15 years, and have been linked to falling public trust in the police as a whole.

"Officers work courageously to bring peace to our streets when violent disorder breaks out, but we must do more to support their brave actions," Secretary Mahmood said. "We will establish a national public order commander to crack down on disruption to keep our communities safe."

As part of the process of rebuilding public trust, she also stressed the importance of quick response times, particularly in rural areas of the country.

"I will restore neighborhood policing and scale up patrols in communities to catch criminals and cut crime," she said. "People are reporting crimes and then waiting hours or even days for a response. By the time the police arrive, the perpetrators and witnesses are long gone."

Need for overhaul

The reforms have long been urged by the country's top police officer, Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, who recently called the current setup "out of date for the challenges of today" and said an overhaul was needed "quite dramatically". He added that sharing resources and expertise would be beneficial to all.

The root and branch reorganization of national policing strategy is also a reflection of changing security concerns in the UK since the current government assumed power in July 2024.

There has been an increase in tension, often resulting in violent disorder, around the issue of immigration, and as the situation in Gaza has developed, frequent large public protests have also put a huge strain on police resources.

julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com