Twitter lays bare police workload

LOCAL police dealt with 3,205 incident yesterday and details of every one were posted on Twitter.

Residents were able to witness what 24 hours in the life of a Greater Manchester Police officer was like as every call received was posted on the social networking site.

From 5am on Thursday to 5am today, 341 people were arrested and 126 of these remain in custody.

The innovative project has seen GMP’s Twitter followers leap from 3,000 to 17,000.

Incidents ranged from calls about someone trying to deal with a rat in their house to more serious calls about assault and injuries to a child.

Through the Tweets, officers were able to link reports of a car driving dangerously in Blackley at 2.20am today with a raid on Burnley Lane Post Office in Chadderton at 11.50pm on Thursday.

Chief Constable Peter Fahy said: “The reaction we have received proves that the public perception of modern-day policing was removed from the reality that my officers face.

“We have tried to give a serious message about transparency and how we get that out to the public.

“As well as serious crimes, we deal with many social issues and other incidents that the public are quite surprised about.

“Through this experience we get a better picture that crime is connected to our social issues such as drug use and relationship breakdowns.

“Often these incidents can be incredibly complex and need a lot of time, resource and expertise.

"I am not saying that we shouldn't deal with these types of incidents, far from it.

“But what I am saying is that this work is not recognised in league tables and measurements — yet is a huge part of what we do."

The event took place as police face unprecedented budget cuts, with the Government's impending comprehensive spending review next week.