Greater Manchester Police placed in special measures following report into 'failings'
A damning inquiry has found one in five crimes were not recorded - and more than 80,000 hadn't been investigated properly.
Thursday 17 December 2020 23:45, UK
Greater Manchester Police is being placed into special measures.聽
The unusual move comes after a scathing report into the force's performance in recording crimes.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Rescue Services (HMICFRS) will now closely monitor how the second biggest force in England tries to address its failings.
The watchdog's report last week found that GMP did not record one in five crimes between July 2019 and June 2020.
They estimated around 80,100 crimes had not been dealt with properly including a high proportion of violent offences.
Inspectors also said they were "deeply troubled" about how frequently the force was closing cases without a full investigation.
And now, a spokesperson for the HMICFRS confirmed the move to place the force under closer supervision.
They said: "The level of scrutiny on Greater Manchester Police has been raised and the force has been placed in the Engage stage of the HMICFRS monitoring process.
"This is due to the causes of concern raised in HMICFRS's recent reports which have highlighted the poor service the force provides to many victims of crime."
They confirmed that the force would be required to develop an improvement plan.
"The process is intended to provide support to the force from external organisations including the Home Office, College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council to assist in achieving the required improvements."
GMP covers 2.4 million people in the region around Manchester and has suffered several other high-profile setbacks in recent years.
Its armed response unit was strongly criticised after a public inquiry in 2019 into the fatal shooting of Anthony Grainger in Cheshire, while new IT systems have experienced significant teething problems.
The Chief Constable Ian Hopkins is currently off work after revealing he is suffering from a serious ear condition.
The GMP communications team has not yet responded to requests for a comment.