Deputy mayor ‘concerned’ about GMP’s use of arrests

Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor has said she is “concerned” with examples of how police officers in the region are justifying arrests.

Kate Green said she could not give “complete assurance” that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are consistently using powers of arrest appropriately after a report found that officers were often ‘defaulting’ to arresting people rather than looking at other options.

GMP’s work came under review this year as part of the Baird Inquiry, an independent review which had a particular focus on how women and girls were treated through the process of being taken into custody.

The inquiry, which commissioned Dame Vera Baird to carry out a review of GMP, found that some arrests made by police officers were ‘unnecessary’ or ‘unlawful,’ and that there were examples of women being degraded while in custody.

But GMP said it is making improvements and has implemented 24 out of 26 recommendations to turn things around, including giving officers refresher training on using voluntary attendance rather than arresting someone.

Recommendations to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) included the establishment of an independent scrutiny panel to look at arrests and custody records, and appointing a new Super Independent Custody Visitor to make unannounced visits to custody suites.

The deputy mayor was asked at a GMCA meeting on 19 November if she could give the public assurance that immediate improvements were being made to how GMP decides to use its powers of arrest.

Ms Green said: “I would be hesitant to give complete assurance, GMP makes thousands of arrests every year and it would be a brave person who said they are all faultless.

“But what I can assure you is that we are already picking up, even in advance of having the independent scrutiny panel, we’ve been doing some sampling ourselves from my office, both visits from officers from my team to look at records, but also through the complaints process, and I am the relevant review body for police complaints handled by GMP.

“We are continuing to pick up examples where we are concerned about whether the quality of arrests and the justification for arrests is being fully addressed, as Dame Vera has rightly suggested it needs to be.

“We are very mindful of the fact that there is still room for more improvement and I raised cases personally the other day with the chief constable because it’s a real priority for the deputy chief constable that this is got right, right throughout the force.”

In response to the Baird Inquiry, GMP said it is taking the necessary steps to make improvements.

GMP’s Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods said: “Our significant progress with the Baird review recommendations demonstrates our commitment to ensuring the people of Greater Manchester – particularly women and girls – can have confidence in their police force.

“Dame Vera’s report was a disturbing read which highlighted some troubling truths. The Chief Constable apologised to those in the report, and we take full responsibility for implementing the recommendations with a view to making lasting improvements.

“It is clear we are well on the way to doing this. We are working closely with local and national partners in policing and beyond to ensure we are being held fully accountable for our improvements, while also influencing national change in this space.”

Declan Carey, Local Democracy Reporter