Top cop is transforming GMP into 'a force to be reckoned with'

IT'S the contract extension bobbies of all ranks and the tax-paying public hope will see GMP continue to climb the premier league of policing.

- BY PAUL BRITTON

The country’s second largest police force was struggling when Stephen Watson transferred over from South Yorkshire as Chief Constable.

But at South Yorkshire Police, as the county's top cop, he had transformed the force into one of the highest-performing in the country - a process he has repeated here in Greater Manchester by dragging GMP out of so-called 'special measures' imposed by the government.

After swearing his oath to the city region in May 2021, Chief Constable Watson described Greater Manchester Police as a 'sleeping giant'.

The force has very much been woken from its slumber by his no-nonsense approach and a welcome return to basic, professional and traditional policing standards and policies.

In 2020, GMP was placed in 'special measures' by the Home Office following a damning government watchdog report, which estimated the force had failed to properly record 80,000 crimes.

The report, by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMIC-FRS), said the force was failing to record one in four violent crimes reported to it. Even a 'risk to the public' was referenced.

But two years later in October, 2022 the Home Office monitoring process was removed and a year later, GMP was ranked as the most improved in the country.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has confirmed Chief Constable Watson's contract, which was due to expire next year, has been extended until at least May, 2028. Making the announcement, he said Greater Manchester was 'backing him to finish the job'.

Neighbourhood policing bobbies on the beat based in our communities has been transformed under his watch, as have arrest levels, said the mayor. In the 12 months to December 2024, GMP made 67,084 arrests, a 5.6 per cent increase compared to the previous year. The increase in arrests coincided with a decrease in recorded crime incidents of eight per cent.