UK police chiefs draw up plans for national counter-terrorism force

Plans for a new national police body to lead the fight against terrorism and serious organised crime are being drawn up, as UK police chiefs consider the biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960s.

Under the proposals, counter-terrorism policing units would gain independence from local forces and become part of a new force covering at least England and Wales, and sitting in a newly created national centre for policing.

Counter-terrorism policing (CTP) is currently headquartered with London’s Metropolitan police, with its head appointed by the Met commissioner.

The plans are being devised as part of preparations for a Home Office white paper heralding radical police changes, which is expected later this year.

The proposed changes come amid mounting concerns that the UK’s current system – in which 45 local forces sometimes cooperate on national issues – can no longer match societal changes in the nature of crime, which is increasingly national or international.

Read more: The Guardian (UK)