Greater Manchester Police chief constable said around 60% of crimes reported to the force are not fully investigated due to lack of resources. Greater Manchester Police’s Ian Hopkins said budget cuts mean officers have to prioritise more than ever.
He said that about 6000 offences a day such as thefts from vehicles were being “screened out” therefore, not pursued because “we don’t have enough officers”.
The number of front line officers across England and Wales has fallen over the past decade whilst violent crime is still on the rise. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) revealed it had lost around 2,000 officers. GMP is not the only force to examine reported crimes on the basis of threat.
Mr Hopkins said: “If your life is in danger, you’ve been seriously hurt, we will still turn up,”
“If there’s an immediate threat we will be there and we will be there in numbers.
“If your shed’s been broken into, your bike’s stolen, your vehicle’s broken into and there’s no witnesses, there’s no CCTV and there’s no opportunity for forensics, we’ll be screening that out really quickly.
“Your likelihood of a police officer turning up to deal with that is almost non-existent and that’s where the public have really started to feel it. That bit worries me.”
A National Police Chiefs Council spokesman said: “We think the public want us to use our time productively and focus our resources where there is greatest harm and where we can secure a positive outcome,”
The fall in police funding is the result of changes in central government funding which is down by almost a third since 2010.
Frontline officers in England and Wales
Greater Manchester Deputy Mayor Bev Hughes, who has responsibility for policing in the city region said: “The stark reality is that due to years of central government cuts the police simply cannot investigate every crime and have to take difficult decisions about where best to focus their time and resources,”
Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell said: “It’s clear that the government’s cuts to police funding is having a real impact on the front line, making it extremely difficult for officers to do their jobs effectively and respond to certain types of crime.
“This should be a wake-up call for ministers who should act to increase resources to tackle crime and disorder.”
