Nottinghamshire Police are planning to share control room staff and systems with Leicestershire and Northamptonshire as part of a deal to save money and improve efficiency.
The force is working on a ‘strategic alliance’ which would see support staff, policy, procedures training and buildings shared across the three areas.
Senior officers say while the deal stops short of a merger, it could one day also see response officers crossing borders routinely for the first time to deal with calls in each other’s patches if they are the closest unit.
Chief Constable Chris Eyre told Notts TV while the force would keep its Nottinghamshire identity and uniform, the plan involves the ability for the different forces to deal with each other’s calls according to demand.
Software including call centre IT and crime recording software will first have to be unified across the three forces, which bosses hope will save money in the long-run.
Mr Eyre said: “I think if you were to speak to the public, wherever in the country, they would expect policing to be delivered through a single set of IT that’s joined up, so that we can share information in an appropriate way and deliver the most efficient possible service to the public.
“That’s not the way it is configured.
“We have 43 different police forces that usually have 43 different sets of technology and use them in different ways.”
The force also announced it will not be outsourcing its control centre staffing, currently based at Sherwood Lodge, its Arnold headquarters.
Private firm G4S had prepared a report on the service, but any future involvement from the company has been shelved.
Derbyshire Police have previously said they are not interested in the deal, amid scepticism in some areas about how much cash alliances can save short-term.
But senior officers in Notts say big savings can be made, although exact figures have not yet been published.
The alliance is not a merger
Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “To be quite clear, the alliance is not a merger.
“It is all about protecting the quality of local policing services in each force area as a result of maximising efficiencies and optimising business practices and, importantly for our communities and workforces, each force will retain its own identity.”
The force already shares officers and staff across major crimes, road policing, firearms and forensics with other forces across the East Midlands.
