My real desire to maintain frontline policing

In the hotseat: The Chronicle is putting Oldham’s leading figures in the hotseat, giving readers the chance to ask the questions that really matter to them. Tonight it’s the turn of Oldham police commander, Chief Supt Tim Forber.

Q A reader asked about police “baby-sitting” hooligans in the town centre waiting for bad behaviour and asked: “What happens to other areas of Oldham on Friday and Saturday nights?”

A Mr Forber said violent crime in the town centre is down by 20 per cent over the last financial year, although it was still a cause for concern.

“There has been a huge amount of work by the licensed trade to reduce violent crime,” he added.

“Yes it is a bit of a drain on police resources, but policing in other areas carries on as normal and we find that by extra staff and changing shifts and by overtime other areas get policed at the same time.”

And he will not hesitate to go to the Licensing Committee to make sure action is taken, like the closure of Brownz Bar and the Mess House after violent incidents, he added.




Q Chronicle readers complained that racial attacks by Asians on whites are not reported.


A The Chief Supt said he takes a hard line.

“I take the issue of racially motivated crime very seriously irrespective of the ethnicity or heritage of the victim.

“We also have a dedicated unit dealing with anything to do with hate crimes.

“The figures show the split is 50/50 white or one of the ethnic minority communities.”



Q THE Greater Manchester force has a budget of £524 million and is facing budget cuts of £7million — what are the likely impacts on frontline services in Oldham?




A Like any public service, it has tough times ahead, he agreed, but until the Government’s spending review in October, the reality is unknown.

“Over the coming months, the force is looking to rationalise custody, human resources and payroll to maintain policing services, so £7 million this year should not affect frontline policing in Oldham,” he said.

“For example, Greater Manchester has over 300 cells but only over 200 are used on average.

“And Exchequer Minister David Gaulke has already visited Oldham to look at examples of more efficient working and the new ‘hub’ system.

“Back-office savings and economies of buying vehicles and uniforms nationwide are possible.

“When I moved from Huddersfield to Oldham it was only 12 miles but a completely new uniform — that is historically just how the services have matured.

“There is a real desire to maintain frontline policing services and a huge amount of work is going into savings on procurement and back office functions.”


::See the full question and answer session in the E-Chron (subsciption required) or in tonight’s Oldham Evening Chronicle