GMP’s response to serious and organised crime recognised as ‘good’ and innovative by watchdog

The inspectorate assessed the effectiveness and efficiency of the north-west regional response to serious organised crime (SOC) earlier this year.

The findings have been published today (Friday November 10) - stating GMP is “good” at tackling SOC and that “significant improvements have been made” to address the cause of concern which was identified during the 2021 inspection.

This report comes a year after GMP came out of special measures when HMICFRS, which had slammed the force for failing to record 80,000 crimes, said it had improved.

Wigan has had its successes against serious and organised crime.

Only this week the final member of a local gang which conspired to flood the streets with drugs and weapons was jailed for 19 years.

Lee Standen’s co-conspirators are already serving more than 60 years between them.

The report also highlights two areas of innovative practice – saying the force “effectively targets SOC in high harm locations”, recognising the successes of operations Vulcan and Avro; and Greater Manchester Police “successfully targets criminal finance”.

GMP’s Economic Crime Unit is responsible for freezing bank accounts and confiscating criminal assets e.g. money/ property. In the 2022/2023 financial year, the unit recovered over £15m from offenders and contributed to the development of a process to return money to victims - which has been shared nationally as an example of best practice. The ECU is on track to secure a place in the top three best performing police forces in the country in terms of asset recovery, for the second year in a row.

Through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), confiscated assets are reinvested into communities – funding projects which contribute to the prevention and reduction of crime. In the last few months, these have included youth zones, sports clubs, and theatre companies who educate young people on the dangers of carrying knives.

Economic Crime is just one unit within the force’s multi-discipline Serious and Organised Crime Team, which is made up of 130 police officers and staff who are invaluably supported by district-based colleagues posted to local Challenger teams.

Det Supt Joe Harrop, Head of Serious and Organised Crime, said: “This is welcome recognition for the force and the team – in recent years, we have taken huge steps forward on our journey to improve the response to serious and organised crime.

“Whilst we have previously been able to evidence progress using data – such as the 70% decrease in firearms discharges in five years and a 42 per cent decrease in homicides in the last year, HMIC’s report recognises that we have improved our assessment of threat and our understanding of the roles of ourselves and partners.

Since the beginning of the year, the dedicated County Lines team has recorded the recovery of more than 20kg of drugs and 43 weapons from the streets of Greater Manchester, 194 arrests, 142 charges, and the sentencing of 27 offenders to a combined total of 95 years imprisonment.

Det Supt Harrop said: “Whilst responding to incidents and investigating crime is a large part of what we do, we are absolutely committed to stopping offenders in their tracks and early intervention to prevent vulnerable people becoming victims.

“Through our local Challenger teams and Complex Safeguarding Hubs, we are intrinsically linked with partner agencies who help us identify those who are at risk and engage with them in an efficient way which effectively reduces risk.”