Greater Manchester Police making great strides - chief constable

Stephen Watson said while progress had been made, people were still not getting the quality of service needed

Greater Manchester Police is making "great strides" in its efforts to improve after it was put into special measures, its chief constable has said.

It comes as front-line officers were able to publicly speak for the first time since a series of failings came to light in December 2020.

Stephen Watson said arrests and charges had risen and complaints had decreased.

However the chief added that "people were still not getting the quality of service the force wished to provide".

The force was placed into special measures after Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary revealed it had failed to record 80,000 crimes.

Mr Watson joined England's second-largest police force as chief constable in May.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Mr Watson said: "I think we are making great strides and that journey, marginally, more advanced than I perhaps first thought."

He said compared to three years ago, the number of arrests was up by 61%, the number of people charged with crimes had risen by 19% and the number of complaints was down by 38%.

In 2021, the force was rated inadequate in three areas by a watchdog review between February and November.

• Troubled police force 'still falling short'

• Police chief vows to revive 'underperforming' force

• Police force 'failed to record 220 crimes a day'

Mr Watson acknowledged that more work was still needed.

"I know there are too many circumstances today where people are not getting the quality of service that we wish to provide," he added.

The chief constable came to the force after previously being tasked with improving South Yorkshire Police during the fallout of the Hillsborough inquest.

He said his job was "never done" and added that the responsibility was "on his shoulders".

"I either do a good job or I don't - in which case I will disappear off and do something else," the chief constable added.

Det Con Elizabeth Kelly is helping with staffing issues at the force control centre

Det Con Elizabeth Kelly was of one the officers brought back to the force control centre due to staffing issues.

"It is massively important I am here... I have seen what this room can look like when we are really low in numbers," she said.

Reflecting on working in the control room two years ago, Ms Kelly said: "It was daunting at the time but I think things are moving in the right direction.

"The training of staff takes a really long time because of the knowledge you have to have," she added.

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