Police caution over mergers

The objections in his Hull constituency, which were replicated across Yorkshire, were a primary reason why Charles Clarke, one of Mr Johnson's predecessors as Home Secretary, had to scrap the Government's merger plans in 2006.

However, there are two fundamental differences between those plans – and the growing co-operation on a range of operational and financial matters between the local forces which is being interpreted as a precursor to merger.

First, the present collaboration is being driven locally. It is not being imposed on Yorkshire by Ministers from behind their desk in Whitehall – a welcome change of emphasis which is symptomatic of the Home Secretary's style of leadership in comparison to Mr Clarke's bumptiousness.

Second, the changing financial climate is making it imperative to keep costs down. It's why Yorkshire's police officers will, for example, have a common uniform – it is cheaper if the four forces can order in bulk rather than as separate entities.

Nevertheless, police chiefs still have to proceed with caution. Four years ago, some senior officers said that the merger of Yorkshire's forces would diminish local policing,

and that each force had differing priorities.

Since then, the only issue that appears to have changed is the financial backdrop. For local residents, however, anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood still remains their top and largely unsolved priority – despite the increased pooling of resources under a new deputy chief constable for Yorkshire.

Of course, the police should work together where appropriate. After all, criminals do not respect artificial force boundaries. This makes eminent sense if it increases the likelihood of serious offenders being brought to justice. But, nevertheless, most residents still regard policing as a local service – their nearest police station remains their primary point of contact – and this has to be reflected in any future changes.