Oxfordshire’s three policing districts could be amalgamated into one under restructuring plans.
Thames Valley Police currently divides the county into three, with superintendents based in Oxford, Abingdon and Banbury covering the city, south of the county, and north and west.
But plans published by the force have recommended the amalgamation of the three local policing areas into one.
Similar restructuring is being considered in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.
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Bosses say the review aims to ‘enhance’ the service the force provided and that the number of neighbourhood policing teams would remain the same – while they would ‘seek to increase’ the number of officers on patrol.
Deputy chief constable Jason Hogg said: “This review is about addressing changes in policing and in society so that our force is structured for the future; for our people, our partners and the public we serve.
“Any changes in structure will allow further investment into frontline services including domestic abuse, serious crime investigation and neighbourhood policing.”
Senior officers want to assign 20 officers to work with schools and 10 officers ‘focused on mental health’.
A new ‘Harm Reduction Unit’ would be responsible for enforcing court orders like Domestic Violence Protection Orders that prevent suspected abusers from contacting partners or family members.
Proposals published on the Thames Valley Police website say the force will be able to ‘put resource where demand is’ highest, creating teams focused on County Lines drug dealing and serious acquisitive crimes.
The plans do not spell out how the new ‘proactive team’ focused on tackling drugs differs from Thames Valley’s force-wide Drugs Focus Taskforce, which was set up last January under the leadership of DCI Jessica Milne.
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Currently, there is no plan to move where response officers are based. But bosses suggest that moving to a model of five command areas across the Thames Valley ‘could mean more officers based on neighbourhoods [policing], which could reduce overall response times’.
The force said it would ‘strive to maintain current response times and make improvements where we can’.
Members of the public are being asked to comment on the plans.
DCC Hogg said: “We’re keen to find out what people across our area think of our proposals. Feedback from our communities will help inform us as we seek to make a decision on a final option this summer.”
Further details about the plans can be found online at: www.thamesvalley.police.uk.
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