Shabana Mahmood will set out her plans for a radical overhaul of policing to MPs on Monday in reforms billed as the most significant in two centuries.
The Home Secretary is expected to make a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon on her proposals, which include slashing the number of police forces and creating a new National Police Service (NPS) to tackle major crimes.
Ms Mahmood said her plans were intended to respond to “an epidemic of everyday crime” such as shoplifting or phone theft that was going “unpunished”.
On Sunday, she promised “a new model of policing” that could deal with local crime while the NPS would act as a “British FBI” tackling cross-regional and international crime.
President of the Police Superintendents’ Association, Nick Smart, said that while the organisation welcomed moves to modernise the police, the workforce had not been consulted on the proposals.
“Any changes agreed will be delegated to superintendents to deliver,” he said.
“Despite this, we have not been consulted with on any of the announcements made so far. Nor has the wider workforce.
“We represent experts in policing – the most senior operational leaders in our service – and it is essential our views are taken into account alongside those of chief constables and external advisors.”
He warned that reforms could be doomed to fail without a clear definition of what would be the responsibility of the national force and what will be defined as local crime.
Many of Ms Mahmood’s other proposals have already been announced, including a new “licence to practice” for police officers and a reduction in red tape intended to get more officers onto the streets.
There are also measures intended to improve accountability, including giving the Home Secretary the power to sack underperforming chief constables and tougher enforcement of a new national target for response times in emergencies.
Forces in rural areas would be expected to respond to calls in 20 minutes, and 15 minutes in urban areas.
Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Gavin Stephens, told Times Radio that response times were already monitored and that forces would not “obsess” about a certain number if they could not get to a call safely.
He said: “My mam lives in rural North Yorkshire. I am more concerned today, as her son, that she is going to be a victim of cyber crime, somebody scamming her for her hard-earned savings, than I am that she’s going to get her car stolen or her house broken into.
“And policing in today’s world needs to change to respond to this whole range of threats.
“So, although the response target is an important one, it’s just one of many threats that policing deal with today.”
Mr Stephens is backing proposals to slash the number of police forces in England and Wales from 43 to as few as 12.
He told LBC that the public don’t mind which badge a police officer wears, as long as a skilled investigator deals with crimes.
Other announcements over the weekend included a £7 million investment in tackling shoplifting, including £5 million for Operational Opal, a national intelligence sharing unit targeting shoplifting gangs.
Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “For too long, organised crime gangs have taken advantage of defenceless retailers, faced no consequences of their cruel actions and known that police forces may not always attend in time to catch them.
“My message to them is simple – there is nowhere to hide now.”
Ministers are planning a recruitment drive for volunteer special constables, whose numbers fell from more than 20,000 in 2012 to just 5,534 last year.
Police chiefs will also be told to hire more technology specialists to help tackle rising levels of digital crime as offenders exploit new technology such as deepfakes and AI.
Ms Mahmood said: “Crime has evolved – but police forces haven’t. Fraudsters and serious organised crime bosses are outsmarting them.
“Under my reforms, forces will now hire more digital, cyber and forensic officers to put vile criminals behind bars.”
The Home Secretary’s reform package is intended to both improve performance and save money, with fewer forces expected to spend less on back-office tasks such as administration and procurement.
But reaction has been mixed. While senior police officers have generally welcomed the creation of a new national force, the Police Federation has questioned plans to cut the number of regional forces, saying fewer forces did not “guarantee more or better policing”.
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