Police ‘need a plan’ to tackle blight of crime

A DEMAND has been made for a police action plan to tackle crime which is affecting the lives of local people.

Greater Manchester Police Authority made the call after raising “serious concerns” about the performance of police forces in the county.

It wants to see an improvement in police performance, and senior officers from Greater Manchester Police agreed they too were “disappointed” with a report presented to the authority on Friday.

It revealed that only four out of 17 targets were met in the first quarter of 2008/2009.

Domestic burglary, serious acquisitive crime and serious violent crime were among the categories where performance was “unacceptable.”

Chairman Paul Murphy, raised concerns about issues which were having an impact on the lives of people in Greater Manchester, but said there was some “great work” taking place, especially in dealing with firearms.

Councillor Murphy urged police to bring an action plan to the September 5 meeting of the authority, and high-ranking officers told members that measures were already in place to address issues identified in the report, and they were more than happy to produce an action plan.

The authority’s scrutiny committee will also look in more detail at detection figures, and acting Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Ian Seabridge, admitted: “There are offences which are simply undetectable although we may know who the offender is.”

Councillor Murphy added: “We need to be able to understand some of that detail if we are to reassure the people of Greater Manchester that crime is falling, which it is.”

Targets currently being met by the force include robbery reduction and cash in transit robberies.

A recent independent report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary ranked GMP as one of the best in the country when dealing with major crime. The force was one of only four found to “exceed the standard” expected of them.