Greater Manchester Police: New chief blames leadership failures

Stephen Watson has vowed to implement his new plan at pace.

Greater Manchester Police's new chief constable has blamed a "failure of senior leadership" as he outlined his plans to turn around the troubled force.

Stephen Watson has promised to get tough on crime, with "too many criminals getting away with it".

He said the force would now fully investigate every crime and pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry.

Mr Watson also vowed to open more cell capacity under the plans.

His fresh comments come after a series of controversies for the force, including Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary revealing it failed to record 80,000 crimes.

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The senior officer promised many more arrests with "surge activity" to fight crime, including "dialled-up muscularity" and "real ferocity" in tackling organised crime gangs.

"We will take your cars and we will take your cash and we will take your houses," he said.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Mr Watson added: "Victims are still being let down because our problems are a long time in the making."

But he said he was confident that his reforms would change the culture of the force.

And he reiterated a promise he made on his appointment, committing to resign if the force "had not improved in two years time".

The force was placed in special measures in December following a raft of failures

Mr Watson presented his plans to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham at a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

The former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police was appointed after the force - the second largest in England and Wales - was put in special measures in December.

Then chief constable Ian Hopkins, who had held the top job since 2015, stepped down after Mr Burnham came under pressure to sack him.

The new chief was tasked with coming up with a plan, urgently, to turn the force around.

"I have no doubt that our people are equal to the challenge. What has kept our people from delivering, as they want to do, has been a failure of senior leadership," Mr Watson said.

"And that's what we're here to do. Our people are fed up but they are not defeated."

Mr Burnham spoke of a culture of "defeatism" spanning the last 20 years at the force.

He said the mayor and police chief had "faced up" to all the problems, pledged greater scrutiny and oversight of the force, and promised a "new era".

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