Shabana Mahmood’s key policing adjustments from British FBI to AI and crack squads

Shabana Mahmood has unveiled the biggest policing shake-up in two centuries.

The Home Secretary vowed to tear up outdated structures – warning chief constables are being set up to fail. She announced that the number of police forces in England and Wales will be slashed – while AI functions such as facial recognition will be rolled out to all areas.

Ms Mahmood said an elite ‘British FBI’ is being set up to investigate serious crime. This, she said, will leave forces better equipped to tackle local crime like anti-social behaviour and phone theft.

She told MPs that change is long overdue, saying the current policing model is not fit for purpose. She said: “Communities are facing an epidemic of everyday crime that all too often seems to go unpunished, and criminals know it.” Ms Mahmood voiced her frustration that neighbourhood policing had been eroded under Tory austerity, stating: “It was a foolish error because neighborhood policing works across the world.”

She told: “Today we have we have policing happening in the wrong places. We have local forces responsible for national policing, distracting them from policing their communities. And at the same time, we have forces of various shapes and sizes with quality varying widely force by force. This government’s reforms will ensure we have the right policing happening in the right place.”

She said: “When the future arrives, there are always doubters. 100 years ago, fingerprinting was decried as curtailing our civil liberties. But today we could not imagine policing without it.

“I have no doubt the same will prove true of facial recognition technology in the years to come.”

Here we look at some of the key changes announced today.

‘British FBI’ to be created

Ms Mahmood has announced a new National Police Service, which will focus on serious crime, fraud and terrorism.

She argues officers in the 43 police forces in England and Wales are overstretched trying to close down nationwide and international networks. The Home Office says the new nationwide bureau will bring together the powers of the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, Regional Organised Crime Units, police helicopters and National Road Policing.

It will share technology and intelligence and set its sights on complex crime. The force will be led by a National Police Commissioner – the country’s most senior police officer.

Fewer police forces

Ms Mahmood said the Government plans to reduce the number of police forces in England and Wales.

The white paper said: “The current force structure has been in place for 60 years but is no longer fit for purpose. Having 43 separate police headquarters, each providing back-office functions to local policing, means we are wasting money that could be invested in the frontline.”

The strategy vows to reduce the number of police forces “significantly” – but does not put a number on it.

Regional crime hubs across the country

Regional Crime Hubs will be be based across the country to target drug networks, firearms supply, child sexual abuse and high-harm fraud, no matter where they are operating.

Government source say for too long forces have been burdened by national policing responsibilities which divert time and resources away from tackling crime in their local communities, including shop theft, phone theft and anti-social behaviour.

Ms Mahmood added: “Criminals don’t respect borders, so we need a policing response that is agile and adept to go after the most serious and complex crime networks.

“Regional Crime Hubs will deploy the best talent and state of the art technology to go after cross-border criminals to keep our communities safe.”

999 response time targets

Police will be ordered to arrive at crime scenes in 15 minutes in cities and towns or 20 minutes in the countryside to end lengthy waits for victims.

Ms Mahmood has called on unacceptable delays which can mean perpetrators and witnesses have disappeared when officers arrive at the scene. Forces will also be ordered to answer 999 phone calls within 10 seconds under the radical blueprint for policing.

Ms Mahmood said: “Everyday crimes are on the rise across the country and too often there seem to be no consequences. People are reporting crimes and then waiting hours or even days for a response.

“By the time the police arrive, the perpetrators and witnesses are long gone. I will restore neighbourhood policing and scale up patrols in communities to catch criminals and cut crime.”

Massive investment in AI

The Government will create a new national centre on AI, with over £140million to be ploughed into new technologies.

This includes a national rollout of facial recognition vans and kit to identify suspects from CCTV, doorbell and mobile phone footage. The Home Office says this will reduce the amount of time staff spend behind their desks and bring the equivalent of 3,000 officers to frontline duties.

Crack squads and new sacking powers

Crack squads will be sent in to failing forces, the Ms Mahmood announced.

The long-awaited reforms will also give the Home Secretary the power to sack chief constables. It comes days after she voiced frustration she had no power to remove the head of West Midlands Police.

Ms Mahmood is said to be alarmed over the lack of accountability of police forces.

The new policing blueprint will give the Home Secretary the power to send in specialist teams to turn around forces. And experts from best-performing constabularies will be drafted in to drive up standards.

New performance dashboards

Under the plans, each force will have to publish an online dashboard to show how they are performing on key priorities.

These include 999 response times, neighbourhood team sizes and solving crimes. Ms Mahmood said: “The police are the public, and the public are the police. It is essential that the people can determine what they expect from their forces.

“I will make police forces accountable to both parliament and the public – driving up standards so they fight more crime in their communities.”

£7million to tackle shoplifting epidemic

The Government has announced a £7million investment in tackling the scourge of shoplifting in England and Wales.

This includes £5million for Operational Opal, a national intelligence sharing unit targeting shoplifting gangs. It comes after cases reached a record level following the Tory decision to stop prosecuting most shop thefts worth under £200, which the Government is reversing.

Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “For too long, organised crime gangs have taken advantage of defenceless retailers, faced no consequences of their cruel actions and known that police forces may not always attend in time to catch them.

“My message to them is simple – there is nowhere to hide now.”

Cyber security experts to fight crime in space time

Cyber security experts will be recruited to catch crooks in their spare time under a drive to fight digital crime.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones revealed plans to open the doors to tech experts becoming special constables, as 90% of all crimes now have a digital element, either through social media or use of phones and computers. Special constables are volunteer officers – with the same powers of arrest – who traditionally focus on local beat policing. But ministers are now seeking volunteers with cyber skills to beef up the response to digital crime.

Since 2012, special constable numbers in England and Wales have plummeted to just 5,534 as of March 2025. This is down 73% from 20,343 in 2012.

Non crime hate incidents to be scrapped

The Home Secretary has announced she will scrap non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

These are incidents that do not meet the criminal threshold – but are motivated by hatred towards characteristics like race or gender. Ms Mahmood said she believes these distract officers from fighting crime.

The Home Secretary told The Telegraph: “I don’t want them to be policing perfectly legal tweets. I want to make sure that they’re focused on the day job.”