GMP 'fails to record 80,000 crimes in a year' report finds

Greater Manchester Police failed to record about 80,000 crimes in the year up to June 2020, a watchdog has found.

In a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), inspectors said GMP’s service to victims of crime was a “serious cause of concern” as “over one in five of all crimes reported are not making it onto the books.”

The report said the position became worse when recording violence against the person, with 'more than one in four crimes are not being recorded' - often stemming from domestic abuse.

It added the force did not answer around one in five 101 non-emergency calls – but a proportion of these were due to callers hanging up and making use of online reporting.

Inspectors added that GMP ‘often’ did not identify victims as vulnerable at the point of contact and 'inappropriately concluding crime investigations with cautions and community resolutions that aren’t appropriate and in which it doesn’t consult the victim'.

Investigation plans were recorded on ‘different parts of the force IT systems’ or ‘not at all’, inspectors said.

The report noted: “It is crucial that every police force is able to accurately record crime. Not only does it allow forces to understand demand on their services, but it enables them to direct and prioritise their resources in a targeted, cost-effective way.

“Importantly, in many cases, when a reported crime is not recorded, victims are denied an effective police response and ultimately they are denied justice. This is wholly unacceptable. We also found that around half of investigations lacked sufficient supervisory oversight and planning. In some cases, this led to slow progress and a poor service to victims of crime.

“We note that the more recent changes the force has made to its governance structures and arrangements are designed to improve crime recording and investigation standards. But these changes have yet to take effect.”

However, the report acknowledged improvements made by GMP, including allocating appropriate resources, making appropriate use of appointments to provide a service to victims, sustaining good crime recording standards for sexual offences and improving its recording of rape reports.

 

 

Responding to the report, Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said: "We are obviously disappointed by some of the findings in the report, particularly where we have let victims down. However, I want to reassure the public that we treat this matter very seriously.

"Although we acknowledge there has been a deterioration in some elements of recording since the last inspection, we have made huge improvements in some elements including rape, sexual offences and many areas of volume crime which are now recorded by our centralised unit.

"We would like to highlight that this inspection examined calls, incidents and crimes recorded in spring, whilst the force was in the middle of making and embedding strategic changes including the centralising of elements of crime recording and the control rooms. The force was also facing the unprecedented and changing challenges posed by the first Covid lockdown. This meant that we were unable to recruit and train the additional staff we required to progress the centralised crime recording function in the timescales we would have wished. 

"Since spring, there is strong evidence of improved crime recording rates in many relevant areas, so progress has already been made.

"The force has also significantly reduced the amount of time taken to answer 101 calls and, subsequently, the abandonment rate - this is despite of the impact Covid has had on resources and staffing. 

"GMP always regret when a victim of crime feels let down by us and I understand their frustration.

"The challenge we have is that our demands are much greater now than has ever been the case and our resources are much more stretched. Unfortunately, that means we cannot offer the level of service which the public often expects. The harsh reality is that we must select how we utilise our resources and that means we cannot investigate every crime to the extent we would wish. This means that some crimes are investigated over the phone without an officer being deployed. We have to make decisions based on threat, harm and risk. We understand why the public find this disappointing at times but we must prioritise.

"I can reassure the public that the issues identified in the report have been treated very seriously and reflected upon and we have robust plans to implement any outstanding learning and secure the best possible outcomes for victims going forward. This will be supported by robust governance and strategic leadership oversight. 

"The safety and wellbeing of the public, as well as maintaining their confidence, underpins all that the force does."

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham and Bev Hughes, Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, said: “The people of Greater Manchester rightly expect its police force to protect them. That so many cases in Greater Manchester went unrecorded in a three-month period earlier this year is simply not good enough.

“Since the summer, GMP has developed a detailed action plan to address its failings. The Deputy Mayor received a draft of this plan last week and, together with the Mayor, met with the Chief Constable on Monday where it was discussed. A further, more in-depth review meeting is scheduled for next week, and the Deputy Mayor intends to meet regularly with senior representatives from GMP concerning this matter; she expects to see significant improvements within clear three and six month milestones.

“The Mayor will also meet with senior GMP leadership on a monthly basis and will be updated on progress made. A swift and comprehensive improvement by GMP is of the utmost importance, and while groundwork has been laid with our activity in recent weeks much more needs to be done.

“The public of Greater Manchester should be assured that both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are in complete agreement that the failings identified in the report are wholly unacceptable.

“This matter is being taken extremely seriously and we will require GMP to make significant improvements, and fast.”