More demand and stretched resources affect crime investigations, says police chief

Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling has spoken after a report published yesterday said the way Greater Manchester Police (GMP) provides a service to victims of crime is a “serious cause of concern”.

It found more than 80,000 crimes were not recorded in a year and the force wrongly and prematurely closed some investigations.

Mr Pilling said: "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.

"Of course, this means we should remain professional at all times, we should keep the promises we make and we should keep people informed about cases. Where there is a higher risk or threat, then this is where we should focus our resource. Where this has not happened, it is unacceptable and we apologise.

"Supporting victims is always at the forefront of everything we do, and we will continue to act on any learnings to secure the best possible outcomes for victims going forward."

The report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found around one in five crimes, and one in four violent crimes, were not recorded by the force.

GMP failed to record an estimated 80,100 crimes reported to it between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, amounting to around 220 crimes a day.

A higher proportion of violent crime was not recorded, including domestic abuse and behavioural crimes, such as harassment, stalking and coercive controlling behaviour.

The force wrongly and prematurely closed some investigations, inspectors found, some with vulnerable victims, a proportion being domestic abuse cases, where although a suspect was identified, the victim did not support or withdrew support for police action.

And “in too many cases” watchdogs said there was no evidence to confirm the victim’s wishes had been properly considered before the investigation was closed, and inspectors could not be sure that victims were properly safeguarded and provided with the right service or support.

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