GMP say it is responding to emergencies faster - with “among the fastest” times in the country

Greater Manchester Police has announced that its response times are among the best in the country - responding to emergencies and picking up the phone faster than before.

Data released this month shows that phones are being picked up in an average of two to five seconds in 2024 for 999 calls, compared for 29 seconds in June 2022.

April 2024 saw the fastest Grade 1 response times recorded by GMP in a calendar month, at eight minutes 40 seconds, with their average for the past year at nine minutes 34 seconds.

Both of these are under the 15-minute national expectation.

Response officers are often the first port of call for many emergencies across Greater Manchester, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

GMP has more than 1,600 response officers, each serving different areas across the borough and responding to everything from burglaries and robberies, to fights and car accidents.

They will often be the first to attend an incident to assess the immediate threat and harm, initiate an investigation and provide a reassuring visible police presence for the public.

In the past year, GMP responded to 135,726 Grade 1 incidents – calls that need an immediate response - or 370 a day across the force area.

GMP says it responded to those Grade 1 incidents in 9 minutes 34 seconds on average, well inside the expected national average of 15 minutes.

The Force Control Room receives almost 600k 999 calls a year – or 1,600 a day – that are answered in around four seconds on average.

 

 

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle, head of Response Policing at GMP, said: “Response Policing is the bedrock of every police force across the country.

“Our response officers and staff play a vital role in keeping the public of Greater Manchester safe every day of the year around the clock.

“Almost every police officer starts on response – there is no doubt it’s one of the toughest but also most rewarding roles in policing.

“They will usually be the first officers on the scene of an ongoing incident and will often be the first person the public sees, so it is vital they are trained to the highest standards and have the latest kit and equipment. This will include vital life-saving training and the highest driving skills.

“We have invested £6m in new uniforms for front-line officers as well as upgrading their tasers and body-worn video cameras.

“When the public call us, often in one of the worst moments of their lives, they rightly expect us to pick up the phone, arrive quickly, act professionally and protect them.

“We have made significant improvements in doing this over the last few years, particularly in areas such as burglary, where we now attend every burglary report that comes into us, and domestic abuse, where we are arresting more people than ever.”