South Yorkshire Police ready to cope with international demands of no deal Brexit

Police in South Yorkshire could now cope with the new bureaucratic demands they would face if the UK crashed out of Europe on a no-deal Brexit, the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner believes.

Dr Alan Billings said the South Yorkshire force had spent weeks of intensive working to ensure procedures would be in place to allow interaction with neighbours on the Continent if Britain left without a deal, a move which would leave all existing agreements between UK police and their counterparts in Europe void.

Although alternative agreements would allow for officers to conduct international business, such as returning wanted people to the UK, the processes of completing that work would be more “cumbersome”, he said.

The force’s Gold command had been meeting regularly to monitor progress and Dr Billings said he was satisfied police here could maintain necessary links with their European counterparts.

“I am confident police understand what they will have to do,” he said. “It has been a very big exercise.”

In addition to police, all bodies which sit on South Yorkshire’s Local Criminal Justice Board had also taken steps to ensure they were prepared for the potential change, he added.