The Home Secretary announced in a written statement yesterday that he proposes the merger of Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire police forces to create a single “strategic” force. The Hertfordshire Police Authority, which represents Hertfordshire people in relation to policing, does not support a merger of the three forces. Speaking after the Home Secretary’s statement yesterday, Mike Penning, MP for Hemel Hempstead, said:
”This is a kick in the teeth for local democracy and the Government are clearly not listening to the views of local people”.
“Local people, rightly, want the emphasis to be on neighbourhood policing and are worried that by having a single force stretching from Hemel to Southend-on-Sea is not going to help achieve better policing in our local communities,” he added. “Residents are worried that important decisions about local policing will be taken many miles away by people who don’t know the local area at all.” Click here to read statement. | 
