FOR the best part of two decades Cleveland Police has stumbled from one controversy to the next.

First there were two long running anti-corruption inquiries, then the public disgrace of former chief constable Sean Price, the jailing of police authority chairman David McLuckie and, most recently, unlawful monitoring of telephone calls.

These controversies have done enormous reputational damage to the force which is grossly unfair both to the many good police officers who work in Cleveland and the people who live there.

But the legitimacy of policing by consent is based on public support. That support can only be given if a force adheres to the principles of transparency, integrity and accountability. At times in the past 20 years some officers in Cleveland have failed to live up to those fundamental truths.

So today we welcome the call by councillor Ben Houchen, the Conservative candidate for the Mayor of Tees Valley, to kick-off a discussion about the future of Cleveland Police.

Cllr Houchen wants to see the force scrapped and while that may be a valid position we can foresee risks as well as rewards in pursuing such a radical agenda.

One idea is to carve up Cleveland between the two neighbouring forces in County Durham and North Yorkshire. While that may be easy to do on a map, Middlesbrough, officially one of the most deprived towns in the country, poses a unique policing challenge – one neither County Durham nor North Yorkshire has any experience of.

It does seem as though the Zeitgeist is behind Cllr Houchen. Local authorities across the Tees Valley are already coming together in the name of efficiency – perhaps our police forces should do the same?

We are yet to be convinced, but perhaps we could be if a strong enough case can be made.