Mebyon Kernow’s candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner Michael Bunney has hit out at the announcement that the recent attempt to merge the “Devon and Cornwall” Constabulary with the Dorset force had cost a quarter of a million pounds.
Mr Bunney said it was a “complete waste of public funds” and “indefensible.”
In a statement issued today, he said:
“The failed police merger was indefensible and a complete waste of public funds that should have been used for front line policing.
“The Cornish public were quite obviously opposed to the merger from the very beginning and it should have been ruled out from the start. This would have saved much needed money, that could have been spent on police officers in the ground.
“Funding police officers and detectives should always be the absolute priority, rather than bureaucratic reorganisations. Cornish communities feel more and more let down by centralised authorities that are out of touch with local concerns. Our police force is more and more stretched due to lack of central government funding and it is high time that central authorities listened to local people and funded public services properly.”
The next election for Police and Crime Commissioner will take place on 7th May 2020.
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