£29m computer says ‘no’ to request for crime figures
GREATER Manchester Police is unable to tell the government exactly what crime occurred here in the second half of last year because of its troubled new computer system, iOPS.
Today the Office for National Statistics released its crime data for the latest quarter available, July to September, but Greater Manchester’s numbers were missing.
The omission is a direct result of GMP’s new computer system, switched on six months ago, which has been the focus of furious complaints from frontline staff and a police inspectorate visit, the results of which are due back imminently.
According to the ONS, the force will not be able to provide data for the following quarter - October to December - either, for the same reason.
The mayor’s office says it has been ‘assured’ by senior officers that they are ‘making progress’ in addressing issues with the computer system, including around data.
GMP says it is working to ensure its data is accurate, adding that the scale of its ongoing IT transformation is of an ‘unprecedented’ scale.
It has now been more than six months since the £29m Integrated Police Operating System (iOPS) was switched on in a move intended to transform technology within the force.
Frontline officers warned of a catalogue of problems with a specific part of it, known as Police Works, from day one. That included the loss of information such as crimes and intelligence.
It is understood it is this part of the system that has not been able to generate accurate data for the government or for the public.
According to the latest ONS report: “Following the implementation of a new IT system in July 2019, GMP have been unable to provide police recorded crime data for July, August and September 2019.
“This issue is ongoing and will also affect next quarter’s data.
“In order to allow for accurate comparisons across the years, data for GMP have been excluded from all the police recorded crime data and tables presented in this bulletin for the years ending September 2019, March 2019, September 2018 and March 2018.”
Currently the police.uk mapping site - which is supposed to use force-level data to show the public how many crimes have been committed in their neighbourhood - states no crimes took place in Piccadilly Gardens in July, September, October or December, and only one each in the months of August and November.
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Hughes said: “Both the mayor and I continue to challenge GMP on the implementation of iOPS and senior officers have assured us that they are making progress in addressing concerns and issues with the system.
“Clearly, the current inability of GMP to provide the Home Office with reliable recorded crime data risks undermining public confidence and affects transparency in the service.
“It’s vital that GMP continues to work hard to swiftly resolve all ongoing issues with iOPS and I will continue to make that clear to the Chief Constable.”
A spokesman for GMP said: “Greater Manchester Police has recently been undergoing one of the largest public sector IT projects in the UK, the size of which is unprecedented in UK policing.
“As a result of this we are currently reviewing our provision of data to external parties to ensure what we are sharing is an accurate and complete record of performance, this includes the supply of crime statistics to the Home Office to be included in the ONS Crime in England and Wales report 2019. Since the launch our priority has been training officers and staff and ensuring the system fits the needs of the force.
“Focusing on this area has meant we are on track to being back to business as usual and can look forward to bringing in new advancements that will benefit the communities in Greater Manchester.
“We are continually reviewing and working on improving the data quality from the system in order for us to supply this to external parties and to ensure we fall in line with the next Annual Data Return timescale in April 2020.”
It is understood the Chief Constable has told the Home Office issues around data returns have been ‘escalated’ as a priority and that another software upgrade is due in February.