Stephen Williams has signed a petition in the House of Commons against the amalgamation of Avon and Somerset Police with forces in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Dorset and possibly Devon and Cornwall. He believes the change, which has been proposed by the government without consultation, would result in a less responsive more centralised service, and has only been suggested in order to save money.
Stephen said "There is already enough controversy about how resources are split between Bristol and rural areas. These plans will lead to more disquiet in the villages of South Gloucestershire. I could possibly see the case of an Avon and Somerset and Gloucestershire merger to police the M4 and M5 corridors but there is no sense in a force from Tewkesbury to Bournemouth or, even worse, Tewkesbury to the Scilly Isles."
The Early Day Motion, which Stephen has signed along with other local opposition MPs, states "This House believes that artificial agglomeration of existing forces without regard for patterns of crime or local identity to be a retrograde step."
