UK police chief quits over reforms

Melville, who was appointed chief constable in Gloucestershire in January 2010, said he steps down due to “grave concerns” at the coalition’s current reform agenda, particularly election of police and crime commissioners.

“After a 34-year career in the police service, 10 of which have been as a chief officer, I have decided the time is right to leave,” he said on Friday.

In January, he had warned of the dangers involved in cutting the number of police officers, saying, “So in a small force, a series of local decisions have combined to take us to a metaphorical cliff-edge much more quickly than others.”

British police are planning to bring in private security firms in order to take control of a broad range of services such as investigating crimes, monitoring neighborhoods and holing suspected criminals.

The privatization contract is regarded as the largest in police force, with a value of £1.5bn for seven years, which would increase to £3.5 billion if other forces also got involved.

Meanwhile, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) published on Thursday, some police forces may have to make deeper cuts to frontline and office staff because they have so far managed to identify savings of just £1bn out of the total of £1.5bn to meet their Treasury targets by 2014-15.

SSM/MA/HE

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