New fleet on the beat
GMP SPENDS £3.5M ON 164 CARS TO REPLACE ‘FAILING’ VEHICLES
GMP’S ageing fleet of cars is to be replaced.
The force, as reported in the M.E.N., has had to hire cars recently due to the dire state of some of its vehicles.
Currently in special measures, GMP has had to send response officers out to crimes using lease cars as it ‘has not had the police vehicles to get out to jobs,’ Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes admitted last week.
One officer told the M.E.N. that twothirds of the cars in their division were off the road a couple of months ago. Now it is spending £3.5m to buy 164 new beat cars and increase driver training for advanced operations.
Spending on crucial infrastructure is a key pledge of GMP’s new working model – the Plan on a Page – introduced by new Chief Constable Stephen Watson.
It commits the force to a back-to-basics set of actions to ensure GMP can deliver the service that the people of Greater Manchester deserve.
Speaking to Greater Manchester’s Police and Crime Panel last week, ACC Sykes admitted the existing fleet had been ‘failing.’
He told the panel: ”You’ll be upset to hear that we’ve had our response officers attending some jobs in hire cars because we haven’t had the fleet. We haven’t had the police vehicles to get out to jobs so we’ve had to use hire cars on occasions.”
GMP spoke to frontline staff about anything that was impeding the force reaching its potential – with the quality and quantity of marked vehicles being a recurring theme.
Three prospective vehicles were identified – the Toyota Corolla 1.8L petrol hybrid active, Ford Focus Zetec 1.0L eco boost petrol-hybrid and the Hyundai i30 1.0L turbo mild-hybrid.
A series of road tests was organised by Inspector Danny Kabal, who was in charge of the force’s Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit – supported by other departments including response, fleet, training and the Police Federation.
Pcs – who will be among the main users of the cars – graded the vehicles on exterior and interior, steering, braking, acceleration and deceleration, gearbox, safety features, handling, comfort and storage.
The ‘green’ credentials of each was also considered, such as fuel consumption and emissions to help reduce the carbon footprint of the fleet.
The Corolla and Focus received very similar scores and an order for 164 new beat cars – split evenly between the Ford and Toyota – has been placed after a £3.5m funding bid was agreed by deputy mayor Bev Hughes.