First police recruit rise since 2010
125 NEW OFFICERS IN GMP BOOST
GREATER Manchester Police has welcomed 125 new recruits, increasing its complement of officers for the first time since savage budget cuts began in 2010.
The fresh blood – funded by council tax-payers rather than the government – means a modest rise overall of 50 police officers.
Spread across the ten police divisions of Greater Manchester, the new recruits aren’t expected to make much of a dent in soaring levels of crime and rising public dissatisfaction at the increasing types of crime police no longer consider a priority to investigate.
However, after almost a decade of austerity, chief constable Ian Hopkins is hardly celebrating, with another huge budgetary cloud on the horizon.
His force and others have been told they must find £400m to fund a pensions shortfall.
If this goes ahead, GMP estimates it may have to shed a further 591 police officer posts, which would leave GMP with just 5,700 bobbies.
In 2010 it had more than 8,000 before the introduction of an era of austerity – brought in by the then Tory-led coalition government to address huge national debt.
GMP’s 125 new recruits were sworn in by the chief constable at a ceremony at Manchester Grammar School on Monday night.
Among them were 50 officers funded by a rise in the police portion of the council tax, the police ‘precept’ levied on households across Greater Manchester. Mr Hopkins said: “I am delighted to welcome the new officers to GMP. The 50 that have been funded through the precept increase are particularly welcome as this is the first time we have had a growth in officer numbers since 2010.
“The force faces continued financial challenges and I appreciate that the increase in the policing element of the precept is challenging for many across Greater Manchester, but it is vital for us in trying to maintain policing services across the force area.
Deputy Mayor Beverley Hughes said: “The additional money raised through the policing council tax has enabled us to provide a much-needed boost to neighbourhood police officers at a time when demand is at an all-time high, as they deal with ever more serious cases with a level of complexity we could not have predicted even a few years ago.”