GMP shakes up custody

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The way that police deal with prisoners has undergone a major change.

Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) custody arrangements have altered drastically to ensure a dedicated team of specialists deal with prisoners, meaning that all officers will not be redeployed from their neighbourhood and response jobs to perform duties with custody.

Custody provision will be centralised and 17 suites will be reduced to 10, though this will not mean a shortage of cells.

Research was carried out by officers on how the custody suites were run across the force. Collected data found that GMP had more cell space than was necessary, and due to the use of other frontline staff to backfill custody duties, there were different levels of experience.

This change means that custody will now have a dedicated team of officers, working specifically in that area, with no requirement to backfill from the frontline.

Custody duties will be dedicated by inspectors, and a team of 10 people will provide round-the-clock custody cover and better training will be given to staff, to deal with the unique environment of custody.

Superintendent Ian Palmer, of GMP's Criminal Justice and Custody Branch, said: "Custody was previously provided by divisions which meant that response and neighbourhood officers were drafted in to help.

"Also, if someone was arrested at a divisional border, they were taken to that division's custody suite, which was not always the nearest police station.

"Our research showed us that we had more cells than we needed, which is why we have been able to reduce our custody suites. However, we will have sufficient capacity for day-to-day business and the resilience to cope with peaks of demand.

"The dedicated team we're creating will be specialists, ensuring not only a more professional service, but also more response and neighbourhood officers will be able to get on with their usual jobs.

"The change will ensure we provide the most effective and efficient service to the public and to our officers."