Size and shape of Wales' police should be decided in Wales - German
12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 16th Sep 2005
Welsh Liberal Democrats are urging Home Secretary Charles Clarke to let Wales decide how its police forces should be organised, ahead of an anticipated shake-up of British policing.
Mr Clark is expected to make an announcement on Monday.
Mike German, Assembly leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: "The Home Secretary has a golden opportunity if he is considering the size and organisation of police forces, to hand Wales the powers to decide how best to uphold law and order on our streets.
"Throughout Wales, but particularly in our valleys and rural communities, community policing is an important part of everyday life. We would not wish to see those community links lost if the Home Secretary decides that small is no longer beautiful.
"Any shake-up of the police would be the ideal time to devolve the powers and funding of the Police in Wales to the Assembly. The Ambulance service has been devolved since 1999, since then the Fire service has been devolved too. Now it makes sense to ensure that all three blue light services are responsive to the needs of the people of Wales."
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