Greater Manchester Police is the only force to improve its crime investigation record

A “back-to-basics” approach has helped Greater Manchester Police[1] become the only force to improve its performance ratings for investigating crime this year. In the space of two-and-a-half years, Chief Constable Stephen Watson has taken the “failing” force that he inherited out of special measures and dramatically improved its ratings in two key metrics: investigating crime and responding to the public. In 2021-22, Greater Manchester was ranked bottom overall and judged inadequate – the lowest of five ratings – on both criteria, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.

When Mr Watson took over in summer 2021, he pledged to investigate every crime however “minor”, banned the practice of “screening out” weak cases, insisted officers attended every burglary scene and restored neighbourhood policing, or more colloquially, “bobbies on the beat”. As a result, the number of offences resulting in a charge has jumped by 44 per cent, reversing a slump in solving cases[2] that has fallen nationally to just one in 18, or 5.7 per cent. Emergency 999 answer times have been reduced from 82 seconds to seven seconds, putting the force among the best of the 43 in England and Wales for the percentage answered within 10 seconds.

Manchester is the only one of nine forces so far to have improved its official ratings for investigating crime and responding to the public in the latest round of inspections[3] for the period 2023-25. Where before it was rated inadequate, it has jumped two grades to adequate in both categories. By contrast, five forces – Thames Valley[4], West Midlands[5], Surrey[6], Merseyside [7]and Durham [8]– have declined when it comes to investigating crime.

Six – West Midlands, Surrey, Merseyside, Durham, Dyfed-Powys and Suffolk [9]– have been ranked worse on interaction with the public.

Back to basics

Indeed, Manchester is cited by ministers as an exemplar of the “back to basics” approach that they want to reverse the slump in charging rates. With a record number of police officers after the 20,000-strong recruitment uplift and millions extra invested, they are clear the number of crimes solved must be “significantly increased”. A Home Office source said: “To help do this, we secured agreement from policing in September to always follow up every line of inquiry for all crimes – without exception.

This approach recently led to a 44 per cent increase in charges in Greater Manchester.” The new approach has been reinforced by data from force inspections which showed that more than half were failing to investigate crimes properly. For the inspectorate, it is down to a combination of problems which have been particularly acute in high-volume crimes such as burglary and theft, where there are some of the lowest detection rates.

According to inspectors, it starts from the point of a victim’s 999 call where they found call handlers failed to give advice on how to preserve evidence, meaning vital forensic material could be lost. Delays in getting to the scene within the so-called “golden hour” when evidence is fresh meant further leads could be lost. Chronic shortages of detectives put newly recruited officers in the front line with no experience in making arrests, building case files or attending court, according to inspectors.

It was compounded by a lack of effective supervision by more experienced detectives.

Repeat offenders

In his annual report, Andy Cooke, chief inspector of constabulary, was concerned at the failure to tackle repeat offenders[10]. “Too often, people offend with apparent impunity, and the police aren’t targeting them consistently,” he said. “Some forces target repeat offenders better than others, but the vast majority need to make serious improvements in this respect.” The National Police Chiefs Council has responded with a pledge to visit the scene of every domestic burglary, and aims to do it within an hour of a victim reporting as well as pursue every reasonable lead on all crimes. New guidance has set out what investigations should include such as forensic tests, searches, interviewing neighbours and obtaining CCTV from doorbells or security cameras.

A two-year trial of this new approach to burglary has seen GMP raise the proportion resulting in charges from three per cent to almost eight per cent.

How far the new focus on raising investigative standards succeeds in restoring public trust will be determined by HM inspectors of police.

In 2024 they will be conducting a “thematic” inspection to assess its impact.

References

1. ^ Greater Manchester Police (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^ slump in solving cases (www.telegraph.co.uk)
3. ^ latest round of inspections (chase.telegraph.co.uk)
4. ^ Thames Valley (www.telegraph.co.uk)
5. ^ West Midlands (www.telegraph.co.uk)
6. ^ Surrey (www.telegraph.co.uk)
7. ^ Merseyside (www.telegraph.co.uk)
8. ^ Durham (www.telegraph.co.uk)
9. ^ Suffolk (www.telegraph.co.uk)
10. ^ repeat offenders (www.telegraph.co.uk)