Every Greater Manchester ward will get named neighbourhood bobby back on the beat, says mayor

Every ward in Greater Manchester will have named neighbourhood bobbies back on the beat in a bid to boost police visibility, the region’s mayor has pledged.

More than £9 million will be raised to fund a ‘wave’ of recruitment within Greater Manchester Police – if Andy Burnham’s plans to raise the policing precept by £10 are approved.

The force will have recruited 50 neighbourhood beat officers (NBO) by March, but Mr Burnham wants each of the city-region’s 215 wards to be covered by the end of 2020/21.

Officers will also be placed at some secondary schools with the ‘greatest need’ for extra enforcement following calls from head teachers in Manchester.

With knife crime still an issue in local schools, it is hoped that an increased police presence will build a ‘relationship of trust’ between young people and the police.

Mr Burnham told the region’s police and crime panel: “What this wave of recruitment will allow is that we can begin to make a clearer commitment to all of our communities.

“We’ll guarantee all wards a named neighbourhood beat officer and named police community support officer (PCSO).

“That’s the commitment that we’re making, recognising that everybody will want to understand the minimum guarantee that they’ve got for visible neighbourhood policing.”

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said it would not be a ‘pure distribution’ of officers between wards though, with some communities sharing one or more NBOs.

Regarding schools, the meeting heard that 20 schools had been initially earmarked for full-time police officers, with some offering to pay for the additional resources.

Having spoken to his own children, Mr Burnham said it is often ‘well-known’ among some young people who might be carrying knives or other dangerous weapons.

“It seems to me that the evidence that can come through a school-based officer is invaluable,” he added.

“I think young people can have a conversation there that they probably wouldn’t do outside of school. 

“It’s intelligence that needs to be gathered more systematically by building that relationship of trust with our teenagers.”

GMP is expected to recruit an additional 347 police officers in 2020/21 at a cost of £11.7 million.

The total number could rise to 1,156 by the end of the government’s three-year national recruitment drive for 20,000 recruits across the UK.

There were around 8,200 officers working within GMP in 2010, but numbers have dwindled to just 6,200 due to austerity cuts.

Labour MP for Rochdale, Tony Lloyd said: “Mayor Andy Burnham is taking the right approach.

“It is welcome news after years of Conservative cuts to our policing that we are going to see some of our police back on the streets of Greater Manchester. Although the government has got to do much more.

“Neighbourhood policing lies at the heart of successful policing. But neighbourhood policing works best when people in the local community know who their local police officers and PCSOs are.

“They can learn to trust them and it’s that bond of trust that allows the police to know what’s going right, but more importantly, what’s going wrong – and who is behind it.

“That’s the way to tackle all types of crime, all the way through to the most damaging crimes including terrorism, organised crime and child sexual exploitation.

“It’s not a magic wand, but it’s how modern policing should work with the public.”

Chris Clarkson, Conservative MP for Heywood and Middleton, said: “At December’s election, people voted Conservative in part because of our promise to increase policing numbers by 20,000 and because of our plans to increase funding to GMP by £48.3m. I’m glad Mr Burnham has taken that message on board and I would support any plan which brings policing back into communities. I sincerely hope this is a cast iron commitment and not just a pre-election promise.

“However, before additional officers and recruited and allocated, Mr Burnham must in his role as Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester ensure that he has explained the woeful episode of the £29m iOPS computer system and its roll out.

“Frontline officers were forced to keep crime records on scraps of paper, unable to enter intelligence or update records and for a significant period the force was unable to report crime figures to the Home Office.

“The men and women who keep us safe should have the very best equipment, systems and support and I would expect Mr Burnham to investigate the failures which allowed this shameful situation to occur as a matter of urgency.

“When experienced officers have contacted the press to express to voice their real and genuine concerns about the safety of their colleagues because there is no adequate system to record information or track investigations, it seems irresponsible to be talking about anything else. The buck stops with Mr Burnham on this and I would hope his overriding priority will be to investigate this and hold those responsible to account.”

Niall Griffiths, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Additional reporting: Rochdale Online