The leader of Nottingham City Council has accused Notts Police of arrogance over the force’s decision to scrap its city division.
Senior officers have ditched the old system, which divided the force into a city division and county division.
The changes mean there is no dedicated chief superintendent based in the city centre, leaving a superintendent as the most senior officer.
Chief Constable Chris Eyre said the changes are needed to save money while still protecting front line services.
But the city council fears big falls in crime over the last decade could be reversed, and called for a re-think.
It has now emerged that the force has already gone ahead with its plan despite calls from the council for a detailed report on the change before it went ahead.
Appalling decision
Councillor Collins said: “I am disappointed the police have gone ahead with this ill-advised reorganisation, arrogantly ignoring the views of partners and the public.
“The Police and Crime Commissioner [Paddy Tipping] gave assurances that no action would be taken over the future of the city division until a joint report on the matter by the police and council had been considered by the Crime and Drugs Partnership, and the action of the soon-to-depart Chief Constable has totally undermined this commitment.
“The city council will do everything it practically and legally can to challenge this appalling decision. We will also campaign to have the city division reinstated to ensure that policing in the city does not return to the state it was in the early 2000s, when crime was almost three times higher than currently.
“Unfortunately, it is difficult to see how we can have confidence in a Chief Constable and senior police team that say one thing to partners and do something completely different.”
Mr Eyre announced he was leaving Notts Police for a role in Cyrpus earlier this month.
A spokesman for the Force said: “While we acknowledge the city council’s support for the previous arrangements, the Chief Constable has responsibility for making operational policing decisions to keep the public of Nottinghamshire safe from crime and anti-social behaviour. This particular decision is supported by the Deputy Chief Constable, who will succeed him.
“It goes without saying that the force remains committed to providing the best policing service. However, we are also expected to make further substantial savings which can only realistically be achieved through organisational change.
“The single division structure is now in place and the senior management team – including the new Head of Investigations and Intelligence, a Detective Chief Superintendent, based at Central Police Station- is getting on with the job.”
They added the number of officers in the city had not changed and the new structure would mean it could actually deploy more officers to incidents in some areas.
