Force is rated as ‘requiring improvement’
GMP fail to attend incidents quickly enough and their initial investigations are not always good enough, say inspectors who last week rated the force as ‘requiring improvement.’
The cash-strapped force was downgraded from good despite ‘outstanding’ tackling of organised crime.
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said the report reflected the fact that the force had lost 2,000 officers and 1,000 backroom staff and PCSOs in recent years as demands on the service had risen.
The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICFRS) says: “The force has effective processes in place to assess the risk within incidents and crimes at initial contact in its control room. These identify those people who are vulnerable or have been repeat victims of crime and domestic abuse.
“However, once the level of risk and appropriate graded response has been decided, the force has difficulty at times in allocating resources to attend those calls and meet that demand.
“This has an adverse impact on the initial investigation of crime, obtaining evidence at the scene, the potential for arresting offenders and safeguarding victims of crime.
“This means that victims are not always receiving the best service from the police and is a cause of concern for HMICFRS. Once officers are in attendance at incidents and crimes, the service to the public and safeguarding of victims improves.”
In 59 per cent of completed investigations no suspect is identified.
Recorded crime in Greater Manchester has risen 31pc compared to a national average of 14pc.
The force was rated good for preventing crime and tackling anti-social behaviour. But it requires improvement for investigating and reducing re-offending, and protecting vulnerable people.
HMICFRS stated that they ‘found that it has high numbers of incidents, including those with vulnerable people, that officers are unable to attend within the assessed and graded response time.’
Chief Supt Neil Evans, chairman of the Greater Manchester Branch of the Police Superintendents’ Association, pointed to cuts in funding, adding: “Whilst we would assert that the force has made improvements in certain areas over recent months it would be reckless of us to challenge the conclusions on what is such an important issue.
“We do take issue however with what we regard as conflicting evidence and lack of context.”
Deputy Chief Constable Pilling added: “Our work has become even more complex with officers dealing with increased reports of domestic abuse, cyber crime, fraud and child sexual exploitation. We know that these crimes take much longer to deal with properly than crimes such as burglary, robbery and car crime, which we still deal with. We have improved the way we record crime which has led to an additional 100,000 crimes being added to the workload of officers and staff. This means that although our resources have reduced significantly we have more work to do now than we ever have in the past.”
Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Bev Hughes, said: “There are positives to take from the report, including GMP’s outstanding approach to tackling serious and organised crime.
“However, as is made clear throughout the report, GMP is facing ever increasing pressure to meet demand. I believe – as does GMP – that every victim of crime should receive an effective service.”
She added: “Greater Manchester people expect and deserve the best possible police service. It is disappointing that GMP have been found to ‘require improvement’ and I will be working with the chief constable to ensure the concerns raised by HMCIFRS are addressed.
“We cannot, however, ignore the impact of government cuts on a police service that has lost more than 2,000 police officers and 1,000 staff and PCSOs.”