Editing Devon and Cornwall Police (section)

=== Proposed regional merger ===
In 2006, the [[Home Office]] announced plans to amalgamate a number of English and Welsh police forces in order to better combat the terrorism and organised crime that crosses force boundaries. The proposed idea would have merged Devon and Cornwall Police with [[Wiltshire Police]], [[Avon and Somerset Police]] and [[Dorset Police]].<ref>{{cite report|title=Size Isn’t Everything: Restructuring Policing in England and Wales|url=https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/size-isnt-everything-mar-06-2.pdf|first=Barry|last=Loveday|date=March 2006|publisher=Policy Exchange Limited|isbn=0-955-1909-2-4}}</ref> The plans, which would have cut the number of forces in England and Wales from 43 to 24, were abandoned in July 2006. However, in 2010 alternative plans were put forward which would have included [[Gloucestershire Police]] in a [[West Country]] merger. These plans were criticised by four of the forces involved, expressing concerns that they would lead to poor quality service and a reduction in local policing.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/5017592.Concerns_over_police_merger_plans/#commentsList |title=Concerns over police merger plans|newspaper=Salisbury Journal|date=19 February 2010|access-date=8 August 2010}}</ref>