A national police chief charged with tackling violent disorder and rioting will be appointed by the home secretary as part of a radical overhaul of policing and the creation of a “British FBI”.
On Monday, Shabana Mahmood will unveil a new National Police Service (NPS), a top-tier force tasked with fighting international crime and terrorism.
It will be led by a national police commissioner, who will replace the Met Police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, as the country’s most senior police chief. Rowley will continue to report to the home secretary, but will be less senior in rank than the new commissioner.
The reforms have been billed by the government as the largest undertaken since the Metropolitan Police was established by Sir Robert Peel in 1829.
Under plans for new regional “mega forces”, the number of police forces in England and Wales will likely be cut from 43 to between 10 and 20 by the end of the next parliament.
Setting out her “new model for policing”, Mahmood will confirm the creation of a national public order commander, who will be responsible for managing large-scale protests and violent disorder.
While local public order will remain the responsibility of chief constables, the new commander will take charge of major national incidents.
It reflects growing concern among ministers about the ability of individual forces to handle the rioting during Sir Keir Starmer’s first summer in No 10, and more recently the demonstrations outside hotels used to house asylum seekers.
Pro-Palestine protesters pass a counter pro-Israeli demonstration in central London
WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES
The frequent large-scale marches in London by pro-Palestine activists have also posed significant challenges for the Met. During a single month last year, policing protests relating to the proscribed group Palestine Action cost the force £10 million, with several events linked to the organisation also resulting in several hundred arrests in a single day.
The public order commander will be given powers to direct police forces to send officers and resources to assist other areas during periods of major disorder, set a new national strategy for policing incidents and ensure better data sharing.
Mahmood said: “Officers work courageously to bring peace to our streets when violent disorder breaks out, but we must do more to support their brave actions. We will establish a national public order commander to crack down on disruption to keep our communities safe.”
The home secretary is also expected to argue that the reforms are necessary to ensure that local police forces are freed up to pursue everyday offences such as shoplifting, drug dealing, phone thefts and antisocial behaviour.
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She will link the failure to deal with such crimes with waning public confidence in the police, with shop theft and street theft rising by 72 per cent and 58 per cent respectively since 2010.
According to Home Office sources, her plans will see policing split effectively into three tiers: the top tier focusing on major and international crimes, the second on serious and complex investigations, and the third focusing on those impacting local communities.
Mahmood will pledge to reinvest savings from the mergers, which will also cut the number of managers and administrative staff, into more frontline officers, neighbourhood police and 999 handlers.
As the top tier force, the NPS will absorb Scotland Yard’s responsibility for leading on counterterror policing, and the National Crime Agency, which leads on complex financial crime, international people smuggling and organised crime, will also merge with it.
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The NPS will also allow for better sharing of resources, with police helicopters and national road policing sitting under its umbrella.
The government argues this is necessary because national resources are currently scattered around the country, with West Yorkshire police currently responsible for helicopters and Sussex police for national roads.
Mahmood also believes the NPS would be able to better respond to a national crisis or emergency. Her allies point out that during the Salisbury poisonings by Russia in 2018, Wiltshire police required the assistance of 40 other forces, while Essex police was overwhelmed in 2019 when 39 Vietnamese migrants were found dead in a refrigerated lorry.
The 10-20 “regional mega forces” will be responsible for tackling domestic organised crime, such as county line gangs, and complex investigations such as homicide.
The move has long been championed by Rowley, who said recently that merging smaller forces would allow them to share resources, expertise and make better use of modern technology to combat crime.
Teams will be assigned to “local policing areas”, such as a borough, town or city, forming the third tier. These officers will work more closely with their communities, the Home Office said, solving local crimes, such as shoplifting, phone theft and antisocial behaviour.