Confidence in police improving

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Greater Manchester Police has welcomed new figures that show confidence in the Force's ability to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour is rising.

Residents across Greater Manchester also believe that anti-social behaviour in their communities is on the decrease, according to the figures.

The Greater Manchester Police Authority has published a report about the Force's performance between 1 April and 31 July 2010.

It shows that Greater Manchester Police is meeting six of the 10 targets set by the authority to reduce crime and improve public confidence. 

The report shows that 51.7 per cent of people surveyed believe police and local councils are dealing with the crime issue and anti-social behaviour issues that matter in their local area - an increase of 3.1 percent from December 2009 and on track to meet the GMPA's target of 53.8 percent by March 2010.

The report also shows when compared with the same period last year:

• The Force has reduced the percentage of people who think there is a high level of anti-social behaviour in their area to 15.6 per cent, compared to 21.6 per cent during the same period last year
• The number of incidents of anti-social behaviour has been reduced by 15.9 per cent
• The number of domestic burglaries has reduced by 15.5 percent 
• Sanction detection rate for burglaries are up by 17.7 per cent
• Vehicle crime has been reduced by 24.4 per cent 

Sanction detection rates for vehicle crime, domestic abuse, racially or religious aggravated offences and serious sexual offences are all up.

Of the remaining four performance areas, Greater Manchester Police is within 10% of each target.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: "It is very pleasing to see the Force is meeting more than half of the ambitious targets set by the Greater Manchester Police Authority and, most importantly, that more and more people have confidence that we are tackling the real day-to-day issues that matter to them.

"The phrase on everyone's lips at the moment is anti-social behaviour and we have recognised we need to meet this issue head-on. We have introduced a number of changes to the way we police our communities and we are now starting to see some positive results.

"We are committed to driving down crime to its lowest possible level so the figures are encouraging, but people's perception of the Force is equally important, so it is especially pleasing to see that not only are the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour dropping, but that people have confidence we are tackling the issue."

At the end of 2009, Greater Manchester Police introduced its ambitious change programme which has led to a new policing model focused on creating larger neighbourhood teams so officers can really get into the heart of communities.

Central to this has been the development of the Hubs in a number of areas of Greater Manchester, including Rochdale.

The Hubs are a new way of co-ordinating police resources and bring together all the divisional teams under one roof to provide minute-by-minute information about crime and anti-social behaviour.

Open from 7am-11pm every day, the Hubs also have a customer service desk so victims can be kept up-to-date with any crimes or incidents they have reported.

The plan is to introduce Hubs on all divisions by the end of 2010.

Deputy Chief Constable Byrne added: "The new ways of working we have introduced are already starting to see significant reductions in crime, sanction detection rates are up and public confidence is also increasing.

"However, we will not be complacent. There are clearly some areas we need to improve upon and it is important the GMPA continue to scrutinise our performance and set us challenging targets so that we are delivering the best possible service to the communities we police."

Councillor Paul Murphy, Chairman of Greater Manchester Police Authority added: "The Authority are encouraged by the improvements identified and we hope all the communities within Greater Manchester are reassured by the scrutiny and challenge provided to GMP by the Authority and acknowledge the part this plays in providing the services the people and visitors to Greater Manchester deserve."