A storm has been brewing in Surrey and the West Midlands and the clouds have been spreading across the rest of the UK. A debate is raging over the future of policing and it centres on quality. The two police forces in these areas have issued a joint call for bids for a 1.5bn contract to deliver some of their services. The successful contractor would win a role in criminal investigations, patrolling the streets and helping to detain suspects.Proposals in the contract cross into traditional areas of operational policing, well beyond the administrative functions that already exist for private companies (such as IBM and Steria) across various forces. The reaction from many quarters has been fierce but proposals to outsource more services were inevitable.
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