Greater Manchester Police has officially opened the Force’s third Roads Policing Unit (RPU), with the latest site being stationed in Whitefield, Bury.
GMP has responded to residential concerns with the formation of this new RPU focusing on priorities in each area such as fatal crashes in Bury, neighbourhood complaints of Anti-Social behaviour and the use of e-bikes.
Whitefield RPU will house an Inspector, five Sergeants and 35 Constables from Bolton, Bury and Rochdale, and will provide better coverage in the north of the region through local roads and motorways.
Following significant investment to RPU, the number of officers has expanded to almost double, giving the Force a widened approach to proactive policing across the whole of Greater Manchester.
Chief Constable Stephen Watson said: “We’re really pleased to announce today that, whereas Whitefield for many years has been somewhat dormant, we are breathing new life into this police station.
“We are, as part and parcel of the doubling of our road policing assets, basing afresh here, one inspector, five sergeants and 35 constables.
“This comprises the northern extremity of our roads policing enterprise. What the local public will of course see is our officers coming and going 24/7. You’ll see a lot more in the way of police presence in the vicinity and you will see this police station once again being used as a practical operational base.
“What is really important is that a resurgent GMP being ever active in targeting criminality on behalf of the public that we serve is really, really obvious in what we’re announcing today.
“I know that this will be popular with the people who live near to this police station but really importantly it’s popular with our officers too because they are better enabled as a result to get stuck into the fight into criminality.”
RPU currently has two operating sites which are strategically placed at Eccles Police Station in the west and Ashton Police Station in the east.
GMP officers are responsible for the policing of one of the most diverse road networks in the UK, which has an area covering 492sqm and a population of approximately 2.86million.
Greater Manchester has one of the busiest motorway networks in Europe, including the M62 Trans-Pennine motorway, the M60 Ring Road, M66, M61, M602, M56, M67 and A627(M).
Our road section goes far beyond the motorways and includes not only the busy inner-city parts of Manchester, but some of the most rural and secluded parts of Saddleworth Moor.
Chief Superintendent and District Commander for Bury Chris Hill said: “I am delighted to be able to welcome the latest Roads Policing Unit which will be stationed in Whitefield, Bury.
“The Roads Policing Unit will reinforce efforts to reduce the number of serious and fatal collision – as well as targeting offenders who use our roads to commit crime.
“We have listened to the concerns of residents and what they would like to see from GMP, not just here in Bury, but in Bolton and Rochdale as well. Having this RPU base that will cover all three of those districts as well as the City of Manchester will be a game changer for the public and the Force as a whole.
“There has been a significant amount of investment in RPU which has seen the number of officers almost double, with more than 40 officers being relocated to Bury.”
The Leader of Bury Council, Cllr Eamonn O’Brien concluded: “We’re glad to see this police station being used for a Roads Policing purpose, as this is a big issue that residents complain to us about.
“It’s a welcome investment to see more effort going into tackling traffic offences, vehicle crime, and anything that makes our roads safer is something that we will always welcome.”
