Greater Manchester Police graded ‘inadequate’ at recording crime
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has today published an assessment on the accuracy of crime recording in Greater Manchester Police.
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Greater Manchester Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2016
HMIC previously inspected the accuracy of crime recording in Greater Manchester Police in 2014. Following an inspection which was completed in May this year, Greater Manchester Police’s approach to crime recording is judged by HMIC as ‘inadequate’.
HMIC found that the force records around 85 percent of crimes reported to it.
HMIC also found that the force:
- has made some progress in placing the victim at the forefront of their crime-recording decisions and has made good progress against a national action plan developed to improve crime-recording.
However, HMIC judged that the force: - is currently under-recording too many reports of crime, including reports of rape, violent crimes and sexual offences;
- is incorrectly cancelling recorded sexual offences (excluding rape) and offences of robbery and violence; and
- has limited supervision to support officers and staff in making good and prompt crime-recording decisions and there is a lack of understanding by officers and staff of their responsibilities for crime-recording.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Dru Sharpling said:
“Greater Manchester Police has been graded as inadequate following our inspection into the accuracy of crime recording. We have made a number of recommendations to help the force achieve greater accuracy in recording crimes and ensuring victims receive the best possible service.
“Despite making some progress following our 2014 inspection, the force is failing some victims of crime. We estimate that the force fails to record over 38,000 reported crimes each year. The reported crimes that go unrecorded include serious crimes, such as violence and sexual offences. The failings are often a consequence of a lack of knowledge on the part of the officers and staff as to their responsibilities for crime-recording; including the cancellation of recorded crime records.
“I expect the force to make progress against the areas for improvement we identified in this report and I will monitor this progress.”
Get the report
Greater Manchester Police: Crime Data Integrity inspection 2016
Notes to editors:
- HMIC is an independent inspectorate, inspecting policing to promote improvements in policing that make everyone safer, and assesses and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of police forces to tackle crime and terrorism, improve criminal justice and raise confidence. HMIC inspects all 43 police forces in England and Wales together with other major policing and law enforcement bodies.
- HMIC are unable to make direct comparisons with the 2014 inspection due to a change in the methodology used. In particular, the 2014 inspection was a dip-sample of records in each force which contributed to a statistically robust rate for crime-recording accuracy for England and Wales, whereas this inspection is working to a statistically robust standard within each force.
- Further information on how Greater Manchester is performing can be found on HMIC’s online assessment tool, at www.justiceinspectorate.gov.uk/peel-assessments
- For further information, HMIC’s press office can be contacted during office hours from 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday – Friday on 0203 513 0600.
- HMIC’s out-of-hours press office line for urgent media enquiries is 07836 217 729.
- Follow HMIC on Twitter @HMICgov.