Police responding to hundreds of coronavirus-related incidents a day, says deputy mayor

Greater Manchester Police is responding to hundreds of coronavirus-related incidents every day, according to the region’s deputy mayor for policing and crime.

Beverley Hughes said the number of so-called ‘COVID-19 incidents’ has risen considerably, with officers responding to 500 callouts a day last weekend.

Such occurrences include the dispersal of large gatherings, with GMP arresting and charging a Bury woman after being called to break up a house party several times.

Demand on call centres have remained stable, with emergency responders among the worst affected by absences as workers are forced to self-isolate.

But the ‘much-maligned’ iOPS computer system has allowed over 20 members of staff to respond to calls from home.

Speaking at the weekly press briefing on Greater Manchester’s response to the pandemic, Ms Hughes said: “The vast majority of people are really respecting the rules at the moment but there are a minority who are not.

“Last weekend police were out 500 times a day to incidents that were being reported to them. 

“This resulted in the first person in Greater Manchester being charged under the Coronavirus Act.

“COVID-related incident figures vary a lot from about 100 up to over 400 a day.”

Despite national concerns over domestic abuse reports rising during the pandemic, Ms Hughes said this was not happening in Greater Manchester.

But she added that domestic abuse and other issues of safety remained a ‘key priority’ for GMP, and that officers would continue to respond to such calls as they normally would.

There have also been no significant reports of equipment being stolen from construction sites which have been forced to close because of coronavirus.

Meanwhile the number of enforcement visits made by officers to businesses seen to be ignoring the lockdown have fallen, says Ms Hughes.

The briefing heard that 999 response times are at nine seconds, with non-emergency 101 calls sitting at about two minutes on average.

Ms Hughes said: “The section that handles the calls has been the most heavily hit by staff having to self-isolate but now, through the benefits of the much-maligned iOPS system, we’ve been able to equip people to take those calls at home.

“More staff are returning [to work] than are self-isolating so that is helping.”

Niall Griffiths, Local Democracy Reporter