Police plan to merge areas to cut red tape (From The Oxford Times)

Police plan to merge areas to cut red tape

9:30am Thursday 21st March 2013 in News

CHERWELL and West Oxfordshire police areas will merge next month to form one authority covering 502 square miles.

Thames Valley Police aims to cut bureaucracy but concerns have been raised about the force spreading itself too thin.

The new area will be known as the Cherwell and West Oxfordshire Local Police Area (LPA) and will come into force on April 1.

It will be headed by Superintendent Colin Paine, the former West Oxfordshire area commander, and his deputy, Chief Inspector Kath Lowe.

The change follows the merger of Vale of White Horse with South Oxfordshire in April 2011.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Baldwin said: “The merging of the two LPAs reduces bureaucracy and streamlines leadership while improving resilience out on the streets.

“I am confident the new LPA will allow us to provide a even better service to people in both Cherwell and West Oxfordshire.”

Supt Colin Paine said neighbourhood teams and officers would not change and the merger would not affect frontline policing.

He added: “When there is an emergency, people want to see a police officer quickly and are not concerned about where they came from or which area they are based in.”