90-day plan to improve the police

The Home Office could intervene in the running of Greater Manchester Police unless plans to improve its performance succeed.

Police chiefs, who admit crime in Greater Manchester is too high and the force is underperforming, have drawn up a 90-day action plan.

Crimes such as burglary, robbery and car crime are higher than other parts of the country.
The force is being monitored by the Police Performance Steering Group, which includes officials from the Home Office, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and the Association of Police Authorities.

GMP chiefs are having to report to the Government on what they are doing and signs of improvement.

The action plan includes civilianising administration roles to free up officers and get more on the streets, cutting bureaucracy, motivating officers to increase detection rates on day-to-day crimes such as burglary and robbery, and targeting the worst performing divisions.
Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “The 90-day plan is something that we have imposed on ourselves to ensure that we are doing everything that we possibly can to reduce the level of crime, increase our detection rates and to increase the public’s confidence in the force.

“The force has been underperforming for a number of years and this plan outlines the areas in which we need to improve. We are extremely good at dealing with the more serious crimes and we now need to apply what we have learned in these areas to the more day-to-day crimes that effect people on a local level.

“This is not a quick-fix plan, it is part of an ambitious 12-month programme to improve our performance and to change the way in which we work.

“We need to reduce the levels of bureaucracy and remove some of the processes that we have previously imposed on ourselves. This will free officers to do the job that they signed up to do.”

A HMIC spokesman said: “We acknowledge that GMP performs well in some areas of policing, but other crimes are not falling as fast as in other areas of the country. As a result, we are in communication with GMP about its plans for improvement.

“HMIC is monitoring the situation and the force’s plans for making life better for the people of Greater Manchester. We will re-assess the force’s performance in due course.”
If the force does not improve sufficiently, it will be offered support and the Home Office will intervene.