Police chief will strive to do more

Fahy hits back after Greater Manchester Police rated second-worst force in Britain.

Crime in Greater Manchester has dropped by 13 per cent leading to increased public confidence in the police, according to a new report.

The Police Report Card recognises the force’s success in tackling serious and gun crime, work in priority neighbourhoods and crime-fighting achievements through operations Storm and Admiral.

It also highlights GMP’s commitment to improving the service through an ambitious change programme and new policing model.

Chief Constable Peter Fahy said: “We have seen some major reductions in crime and at the end of 2009 were reporting the biggest drop in two years.”

Latest figures for the end of February, 2010, show burglary has now been cut by 15 per cent, violent offences where a person is injured show an 8 per cent reduction, robbery has reduced by 14 per cent and vehicle crime has dropped by 18 per cent. Three in four people say they have confidence in the police.

Chief Constable Fahy added: “It is important to note that the figures in the report are five months out-of-date.

“The force has had significant achievements in cutting crime and improving performance since then.

“The report attempts to capture the complexities of policing in a format the public may find useful. However, it does not give enough recognition to the challenges a large metropolitan area faces when compared with more rural areas.

“We continue to provide people with a range of easy access information through the force website so they can see up-to-date information about their local police.

“What is most important to GMP is to provide the best possible service to people so that we can improve public confidence on the streets and in our communities. We are already seeing examples of that through the work of neighbourhood policing teams.

“We know we can do more and we will. The success we have had in tackling serious crime is now being used to target the prolific offenders responsible for the crimes hitting our communities.

“In December, 2009, we set ourselves an ambitious plan to push performance even further and support our long-term plans.

“This has already brought improvements including tracing around 900 wanted offenders.

“We want to see more offenders being brought to justice for their crimes and will be continuing to target prolific offenders.”