With the look at the current strength and administration of the police (Part Va) and some of the issues facing the police at present (Part Vb) out of the way, it’s time to focus on what general policing options an independent Wales might have.
It’s right to point out that independence isn’t strictly necessary here as policing could simply be devolved – though the chances of that appear to be slim. Independence would provide a completely blank canvas, or not if we decide to keep things as close to how they are now as is possible (it’s up to us).
This model is used in Canada, the United States, Germany and Australia – and is fairly common in most federal states with strong local government, with some non-federal states using it too (notably France and Italy). If an independent Wales was to become a federal or devolved state, then this is an option that ought to be on the table.
There was a time when Wales did have municipal police forces – Cardiff City Police, Flintshire Constabulary, Mid-Wales Constabulary etc. – which were merged to form the current 4 territorial police forces. The difference between that and the model put forward as an option now is that those early police forces were centrally controlled rather than locally controlled.
You would assume most frontline uniformed police officers would work for the provincial/regional/state police forces, while the municipal police forces would be smaller and the national police force the smallest overall.
They would all need to co-operate, meaning sharing facilities and information with each other even if they are separate police forces. For example, the national police force may have detachments at the provincial police headquarters, while the provincial police forces may run joint stations with the municipal forces or other emergency services.
The obvious drawback is that this is radically different to what we’re used to. The reason why municipal police forces are so common in places like Canada and the United States is that they were founded by their respective communities because they were deemed to be necessary. That’s not really the case here.
One big advantage is that by having a police force dedicated exclusively to community and lower-level crime (municipal police forces), you may see an uptick in investigations and prosecutions for things like sexual assault, serious anti-social behaviour and lower-level theft. The more “senior” police forces focus on higher level and serious crimes like murder, organised crime and rape.
