Met boss warns Britain risks having fewer bobbies on the beat and soaring crime rates unless red tape cut in biggest shake-up of forces in half a century

Published: 19:01 EDT, 5 November 2026 | Updated: 19:19 EDT, 5 November 2026 Britons will increasingly fall victim to crime unless policing undergoes its biggest reform for half a century, the Met Commissioner will warn today.Sir Mark Rowley will say cyber criminals, hostile states and child abuse gangs are becoming an increasing threat which the current policing model does not cater to.He will say the existing model of 43 police forces across England and Wales needs scrapping and replacing with a simpler structure of ten regional constabularies, with less bureaucracy.Sir Mark said this would free up thousands of roles and enable forces to reinvest those resources in the frontline services instead.In a keynote speech in Manchester today on the urgent case for policing reform, Sir Mark is expected to say: 'The real danger is not change, the real danger is standing still.'Police chiefs have long called for reform claiming that the current structure drains capacity from the frontline and prevents the public from receiving the visible, effective service they might expect.Sir Mark instead wants one National Police Service covering the most serious and complex crime, with regional constabularies large enough to sustain specialist functions such as murder probes and serious and organised crime work, supported by hundreds of local policing commands.In his speech today, and backed by chief constables from other large forces, Sir Mark is expected to say that the most substantial threats to communities – including from organised crime groups, fraud networks, online child abuse, cyber criminals and hostile states – operate across regional, national and international borders – and will be able to thrive while policing remains organised around structures designed for a different age. Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley will today press the case for major police reforms in an effort to cut red tape, keep pace with technology, and increase frontline officersHe will say: 'I believe this is a choice between the third greatest revolution in British policing or the inevitable decline and fewer bobbies on the beat.'The moments that define policing are the moments when it has the courage to change.'The Commissioner will say to fellow chiefs, politicians and policymakers that criminals have modernised faster than the institutions designed to stop them.In one of his strongest interventions yet on the future of policing, Sir Mark is also expected to argue that years of underinvestment have left forces spending too much money maintaining antiquated computer systems while criminals exploit rapidly advancing technology.He will warn that officers are increasingly being diverted from neighbourhood policing to manage growing demand created by pressures elsewhere in society, particularly in mental health and social care.He will say: 'Policing has tried to keep up, made do as best it can to patch over our broken model.'But the model is creaking. We have 43 overstretched forces trying to do too much, with too little.'The intervention comes against a backdrop of mounting pressure across the wider criminal justice system.Earlier this year, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a blueprint for reform, including a National Police Service which she said would save £350million to be put into frontline policing.