Greater Manchester Police has been removed by His Majesty’s Inspectorate from special measures and is no longer required to be in the Inspectorate’s engage monitoring process.
The Chief Constable has thanked officers and staff for their continued professionalism, dedication, and faith in the plan he originally set out back in June 2021 to improve the force.
He credited their steadfast commitment to the Force coming out of special measures in less than two years, making the Force one of the most improved forces in the country.
As recently as June this year, GMP reported advancement in all areas highlighted as causes for concern by HMICFRS, and in particular the areas in which the public would more immediately see and feel progress.
Back in June 2021, 999 answer times were averaging at 1 minute 22 seconds, and non-emergency answer time was 6 minutes 44 seconds. Now 999 average speed of answer is now just 7 seconds.
In terms of national performance, GMP is now in the top ten of Force performance for 999 answer times, and 8th nationally in terms of percentage of calls answered in under 10 seconds.
This performance is the best of any large metropolitan Force. Non-emergency call average answer times are now at 1 min 4 seconds down from last summer’s peak at 6 mins 44 seconds.
The Chief has previously commented on his commitment to the people of Greater Manchester that GMP would answer their call when in need, and that is exactly what the Force is doing thanks to the fantastic work in the Force Contact Centre.
999 incidents (grade 1 calls) have improved to an average of 10 min 19 seconds, which is well within the 15 minute target and down from a peak of 13 mins 35 seconds.
Sustained improvement has also been made to Grade 2 attendance, which back in August 2021 saw response times at 28 hrs 45 min. The average time to attend a Grade 2 is now at 2 hrs 13 mins.
HMICFRS have adjudged GMP to be compliant with national crime recording standards and has also rescinded this element of the cause for concern.
The force is ethically and accurately capturing the details of crime reported by the public of Greater Manchester, recording around 30,500 crimes per month on average – highlighting the increasing confidence and trust victims of crime are now gaining in GMP. GMP will accurately record your crime and will in every case pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry.
Moving forward,The Chief Constable committed to doubling the number of arrests and the numbers show they are the highest they have been in two years at 4,872 arrests as of September 2022, a significant increase of 60% from September 2021. Arrests continue to grow month on month and show that the Force are on track to record the highest number of arrests since 2015/16.
During the 12 months to the end of September 2022, 23,483 investigations resulted in a charge or summons, an increase of 42%.
Stop and Search is also being better utilised, with 2,528 people being stop searched in September 2022, a 275% increase on the year before, with 2,093 resulting in an arrest. This is a 101% increase on the previous year and complaints have reduced by 29%, demonstrating an ethical and measured approach to this tactic.
The Chief Constable has also recently reiterated his commitment to residents of Greater Manchester that their police force would respond to each and every report of burglary GMP receives.
Under Operation Castle the force is making rapid improvements across the board having invested in additional training for officers and staff to improve their investigative skills, established dedicated burglary teams in districts and an improved response model. GMP has dramatically improved the speed of response and has increased the number of burglars arrested across Greater Manchester by around 70%.
GMP has increased the number of burglars arrested, but the Force has also solved 1,475 burglaries in the last 12 months, which is an increase of 88% on the previous year.
