Merger could mean two forces sharing single major crime unit

Senior officers at North Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Police have begun talks about setting up a joint unit to solve homicides and other major crimes.

Discussions are understood to be at an early stage, but both forces are under pressure to save money as they face a combined budget deficit of £125 million over the next four years.

The proposed unit would bring together North Yorkshire detectives specialising in major crime and officers from West Yorkshire’s elite Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET).

It could follow an example set by police in Surrey and Sussex, where a combined major crime team was formed earlier this year in a move aimed at saving millions of pounds.

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Brennan, who leads HMET, said: “We are in the very early stages of a scoping exercise involving both forces’ major crime units to establish what, if any, benefits can be achieved through joint working.

“Until that process is completed it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Discussions are still at a very early stage and nothing has been decided.”

HMET has lost almost 40 officers and staff within two years and its number of detective superintendent senior investigating officers has fallen from eight to three.

The department’s six detective teams have shrunk as its budget was cut from £12.5m in 2009-10 to less than £12m this year.

The cuts have been outlined in a report by Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison to West Yorkshire Police Authority’s specialist policing committee.

It indicates there have been a number of detective chief inspectors that have been put on the rota to lead investigations.

“Recent events have demonstrated,” Sir Norman’s report states, “that the number of detective superintendents available to deal with the most complex matters and to support the development of the detective chief inspectors cannot be stretched any further.

“Further reductions in the skills and experience of this level would present a serious risk to the force.”

Between April and September this year, HMET dealt with 19 killings, seven attempted murders and eight kidnappings.

The department was also involved in investigating 30 allegations of rape by a stranger.

North Yorkshire has the lowest crime rate in the country, but high-profile investigations can be expensive.

The inquiry into the disappearance of York chef Claudia Lawrence is understood to have cost about £750,000.

Details of the talks emerged as North Yorkshire confirmed it had appointed Detective Chief Superintendent Karnail Dulku as its director of crime.

The officer, with 28 years of experience, led the force’s inquiry into the murder of Chen Cai Guan, whose body was found in Burn Canal near Selby in March 2009.

The investigation resulted in the dismantling of a criminal gang with links to China which was operating across the UK.

The merging of major crime teams is the latest in a series of money-saving suggestions put forward by the region’s forces as they strive to overcome a 20 per cent cut in Government funding.Details of another are likely to emerge within the next fortnight, when South Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police are expected to unveil their plans for a joint human resources and training department.

Senior officers hope the arrangements might ultimately result in the creation of a single HR department for all four Yorkshire forces.

South Yorkshire’s Temporary Deputy Chief Constable, Andy Holt, said: “We are combining corporate HR departments, which includes training.

“This means command will be unified. We will have some commonality in the way we deliver training and greater resilience and flexibility.”