Greater Manchester Police are under severe strain as cuts and crime rates increase but officer numbers continue to fall, shocking statistics reveal.
As Manchester’s crime rates continue to rise significantly and demands on the police increase, Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd has urged the Prime Minister to stop the cuts and invest in the safety of our communities.
The latest figures, released today, by the Home Office show a 10% rise in recorded crime across Greater Manchester, compared to a 3% rise nationally.
This includes a 33% rise in reported domestic abuse cases, a 40% rise in violent crime and a 54% rise in reports of sexual abuse cases.
Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said: “This increase in recorded violent crimes is showing some worrying trends and placing huge demand and risk on a reducing number of staff.
“Many of these incidents are complex with vulnerable victims to be protected and dangerous offenders to be brought under control.”
While police numbers continue to fall, the number of complex cases that must be dealt with, such as child exploitation and domestic abuse, is rising.
Every day in Greater Manchester one sexually exploited child is reported, along with 29 missing people and 57 incidents involving vulnerable people or those who are mentally ill.
Sir Peter added: “We are bringing many more cases to court but keeping on top of this is getting more and more challenging.”
The challenge is rising thanks to recent cuts that have seen the ranks of Greater Manchester Police fall by more than 1,100 since 2010 with hundreds more to go this year.
Four years ago there were 334 members of the public for each officer; this has now risen to 410.
Commissioner Tony Lloyd said: “Local people are rightly worried about the cuts to Greater Manchester Police and those concerns are cemented today as official figures show crime continues to rise.
“The Chief Constable and I remain committed to neighbourhood policing but it’s getting more difficult to put the public’s mind at ease as officer numbers fall and demand on the police service increases.”
The strain our police force is under is extreme – in one average day 178 arrests are made by GMP, 2,757 calls are received from the public, 532 crimes are dealt with, including 51 counts of domestic abuse and 12 of sexual assault, and one firearms operation is carried out.
On top of this, every day police work with local authorities and agencies to support 27,200 families in need of intervention, help 12 victims of domestic abuse rebuild their lives and manage 3,521 people to prevent them from reoffending.
Naturally, with the police force already under such strain, the prospect of crime continuing to increase while the number of officers continues to decrease is a worrying one, prompting Mr Lloyd’s call for action to be taken.
He said: “Today I call on David Cameron to stop chipping away at the police service, invest in public safety and make sure that policing has the money and the means needed to keep us safe.”
