This seems to be following a depressingly familiar pattern that we have seen in the Military:
1. In order to cut costs (not to improve capability) civilianisation of certain posts is proposed (generally by someone in management looking to make a name for themselves).
2. Since many of the posts require military experience, ex-mil (in this case ex-police) are recruited to pacify those who rightly highlight the operational capability issue.
3. The next time the job comes up, the 'civilian' has proved himself as capable as the miltary/policeman so the next civilian in post doesn't need to be ex-mil/police and the true distinction between mil and civilian in the job is discovered. Other similar departments/forces meanwhile hold up the operation in question as a 'new direction' and a way to provide 'value for money' and the management monkeys all jump on the same bandwagon without considering if it is the right thing to do.
The net result is a long term reduction in capability which is near impossible to rectify since it will now cost more to recover said capability and the bean counters won't wear it.
The second is that your mil/bobby has had a nice job removed from his prospective range of employment and recruiting starts to be an issue because there is no respite or variation from the normal front-line duties.
