George Galloway slams SNP on Hate Crime Bill

How Greater Manchester Police provides a service to crime victims is a “serious cause of concern”, said the damning report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. Around one in five of all crimes reported by the public to GMP go unrecorded, inspectors found.The figure of 80,100 in the 12 months to July this year amounts to 220 offences a day. Inspectors estimated the force recorded 77.7 per cent of reported crimes, a drop of 11.3 per cent from 2018.

A higher proportion of violent crime – one in four cases – was not recorded. The force wrongly and prematurely closed some investigations, many of them domestic abuse cases where victims did not support or withdrew support for police action.

In “too many cases” the watchdog said there was no evidence to confirm the victim’s wishes had been properly considered.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham said: “Victims of crime are too often being let down by Greater

Manchester Police. The service provided to victims, particularly those who are most vulnerable, is a serious cause of concern.” She said the Inspectorate had been urging GMP to improve in this area since 2016.

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Ms Billingham added: “Failure to record crimes potentially prevents victims from receiving the justice and support they need. I am deeply troubled about how frequently the force is closing cases without a full investigation, giving the reason that the victim did not support police action.”

Ms Billingham said a recent improvement in its recording of serious sexual offences and rapes now needs to be done across the board. She warned “this situation cannot continue” with a further inspection planned in six months.

GMP’s Deputy Chief Constable Ian Pilling said the force was “disappointed” by some of the report’s findings, “particularly where we have let victims down”.

He added: “However, I want to reassure the public that we treat this matter very seriously. We have a longterm strategic plan in place to address these issues.”

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