Inside Greater Manchester Police’s ‘biggest change’ in a generation
21.03.2023 - 00:47
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
In a room filled with 37 police inspectors, members of the press, and the Mayor of Greater Manchester, promise was in the air.
Announced today was a new plan for GMP, to bring about more police officers with dedicated teams for residents to get to know, rebuild, reconnect and rebuild trust with the force.
In the ‘back-to-basics’ approach, the force promises a dedicated team per ward, who will be visible and accessible, with a commitment that they will be ‘ringfenced’ to focus on their specific neighbourhood, instead of backfilling other duties.
READ MORE: GMP to recruit 264 more neighbourhood officers but will lose 300 PCSO roles
They can also be contacted directly, through a new app, ‘Bee in the Loop’. It will allow those who sign up to be amongst the first to know about incidents and emergencies, they will also be able to get involved in local priorities and receive targeted crime prevention advice.
Following a press conference this afternoon, it was said that 35 neighbourhoods will be serviced 24/7 by 89 teams, made up of 1,148 police officers and staff. Despite reducing the number of PCSOs to a minimum of one per ward, they will instead move over to different roles including admin, call handling and possibly becoming police constables.
It will see 264 more warranted police officers, but will also see a loss of up to 333 PCSOs.
Mayor Andy Burnham said it was the ‘biggest change’ to policing in a generation. He said that as a result of the public’s contribution to council tax, it’s possible to ‘restore front line policing’.
“As a result of that we have brought over 1,000 police constables back to the front line,” he said.
“We asked the public what they wanted to see. They want to see present serving policing and